


The Jinchūriki

by ForeverAFantasy



Series: Magical Jinchūriki [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Dark Harry Potter, Gen, harry potter is naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 13:15:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17244890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverAFantasy/pseuds/ForeverAFantasy
Summary: Lily and Kushina were twins. To save Harry from Voldemort Kushina claims Harry for her own. However, when she dies he becomes the jinchūriki of the kyuubi.





	1. Prologue-Pt. 1

In the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides there was a legend of a land beyond the elemental nations separated by an invisible and virtually impassable barrier. Every couple of generations a child would be born without chakra. Then around the age of seven strange things would begin to happen around the child. They would then be taken by the elders into a special room in the Shiokage’s tower where an old coin would take them away before reappearing on the pedestal to await the next child.

What the people of the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides didn’t know was that the coin was a portkey and would take them to a country where their ancestors had once come from. Lillian Uzumaki was taken at the age of eight into the tower and never reappeared, she arrived at Gringotts Wizarding bank and was promptly adopted by a Squib couple, becoming Lily Evans younger sister to their one year old daughter Petunia Evans. But she had never forgotten the home she left behind or the twin sister that had left for the Village Hidden in the Leaves just days before she herself had left.

In the years before Hogwarts she learnt how to speak proper English and lost her foreign accent completely so that when her Hogwarts letter came there was no one who would guess she wasn’t born in England or as anything but an Evans.

When she went to Diagon alley she purchased an owl as soon as she could and sent it to her twin hoping the owl’s magic would allow it to find her. The owl came back and she learnt of the destruction of the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides and loss of her parents but had also regained a sister she thought she might never see again.

***

Now, 19 year old Lily Potter née Evans smiled as she bustled about the kitchen of the cottage she and James had purchased to begin their life together. She was making James’ favourite as today was the day that she would tell him that they were pregnant.

She heard the door open. And a set of footsteps immediately heading upstairs.

“Lily, are you there?” James called.

“I’m in the kitchen,” she called back.

She felt James’ arms wrap around her waist as he kissed her neck. His head was a comfortable weight on her shoulder.

“You spoil me,” he told her as she giggled at the feeling of his breath on her neck.

She turned in his arms with a laugh and kissed him properly feeling the warmth of love filling her heart as she looked at him. 

“I love you,” she told him. 

She disentangled herself from her husband and led him into the sitting room. She flicked her wand at the counter where the kitchenware continued to make dinner without her. She pulled him by the hand to sit with her on the couch.

“I have something very important to tell you,” she placed her hand on his knee, “We are having a son.”

Unlike muggles who had to wait for the parts to develop magic could tell not only that she was pregnant but also the gender. She waited for him to speak but based on the goofy absent smile on his face he wasn’t going to be speaking anytime soon. She smiled softly filled with happiness that their family was growing, even if the world outside their home was growing dimmer by the day here in this place and this moment there was only light.

“I call godfather,” Sirius said happily walking into the room.

She screamed in shock though she really shouldn’t have been surprised given that Sirius was around so often that he had his own room. She grabbed one of the cushions off the couch and threw it at him.

“Do not sneak up on me again,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Yeah Sirius, we’re carrying precious cargo here,” James finally seemed to come out of the giddy stupor he had fallen into and placed a hand protectively on her stomach.

“We’ll go to Gringotts tomorrow to set up his trust fund, and we’ll need to send a letter to Albus to enrol him in Hogwarts, and we need to think of a name, then the ministry to register Sirius as his godfather,” he began to ramble and list all the thing they needed to do.

Lily placed a hand on his shoulder, “We have time, I’m only a month pregnant.”

“Can you afford to wait?” Sirius said from the comfy chair he had decided to sit in, “There is a war going on out there Lily, better to be safe.”

“I know,” she said softly putting her hand on her stomach. Her happiness dimmed replaced by a terrible worry.

***

It was another month before they got the most devastating news imaginable. She could barley breathe through the pain enveloping her. Why her family? Why her Baby?

“I’m sorry Lily, but the prophecy specifically states that your son and no other will defeat You-Know-Who. We had considered the Longbottom boy but Alice is due end of June so unless Neville is several weeks late, it will be Hadrian,” Albus said twinkle absent from his eyes.

“What can we do?” James asked his hazel eyes screaming desperation as he looked at the headmaster.

“We will put the cottage under the fidelius charm,” Albus said pulling out his wand as if ready to perform the spell immediately. 

James looked over to Sirius eyes pleading, “Will you be our secret keeper? I would trust no one more.”

Sirius stepped forward glancing over to his left where Peter was trying to disappear into the wall. He kept looking at Lily who was trying very hard to stay conscious as the panic for her child overwhelmed her mind. 

“It’s too obvious James, every death eater and You-Know-who would know I was your secret keeper the moment you vanished,” he glanced again at Peter, “Let Peter be the secret keeper, no one would think it would be him.”

Peter startled as his name was suggested. He glanced around at both Sirius and Albus before meeting the desperate eyes of James and Lily, “Please Peter.”

Feeling like he was backed into a corner, Peter stuttered out his reluctant agreement. Albus cast the spell and the Potters appeared safe for the time being. When Albus and Sirius left with Peter he told them the address. He promptly turned into a rat once Albus had disapparated and went to find somewhere safe that he could hide.

***

The next day Lily sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of tea as she watched the rain fall outside. She didn’t feel safe. She re-read the last letter from her twin sister. This particular letter was informing her in great detail of Kushina’s semi-secret marriage to one Minato Namikaze. Her hand drifted down to her stomach as she thought of the news she had to share in return. Hadrian James Potter, or Harry for short, had a vault in Gringotts, a place in Hogwarts tuition already paid, and a godfather that loved him enough to perform a blood ritual that would allow Harry to inherit everything if Sirius died without his own heir. He was loved so much already that the thought that He Who Must Not Be Named was trying to kill her to stop him from being born was more than she could handle thinking about.

The problem was that her baby wasn’t even a bump yet and already she was in hiding to prevent her baby being killed before he even got the chance to be born. You-Know-Who was hunting her and her baby. James understood as it was his wife and son, but he believed in Peter, he believed they were safe and she just, didn’t. 

She came to her decision carefully. She wasn’t just sending a letter with what should be the happiest news of her life but a request to the Hidden Leaf Village. Her early life was surrounded by shinobi and though they did not possess the variety of spells and potions that witches and wizards do they were powerful in their own way. He Who Must Not Be Named knew nothing of shinobi, she would get her sister to come as a shinobi to protect them. She could only hope that they received her letter and arrived on time. She knew Kushina would not rest until they had accepted the mission.

She heard the front door open. Quickly before anyone could come in she slipped an illegal portkey into the envelope and sent off the letter before going to discover the latest news about the war from her husband.


	2. Prologue-Pt. 2

Kushina looked up from where she stood in what appeared to be the garden of a small cottage. It had taken her two weeks to convince Minato and the villages elders to let her help her sister. Well, it had taken her two weeks to convince the elders. They hadn’t wanted the jinchūriki outside the village and therefore outside of their control. She hadn’t seen her sister since they were eight but the constant letters had allowed them to remain close since then. It was her loyalty to Lily above the village that had convinced them in the end.

She glanced up at the second floor of the house where she could see different coloured lights flickering through the windows. With a smile on her face excited to see Lillian again she jumped up onto the roof and made her way across it. As she crossed the roof she could faintly hear yelling in a strange language that she could not understand. A male and female voice she recognized as Lily’s both shouted the same thing in sync. In front of her the roof blew out scattering chunks of wood and glass in all directions as a massive wave of green light flooded the night sky from within the house.

She jumped into the hole the blast created heedless of her own safety needing to find out what had happened. By the door was a pile of dark cloth and ash. It held her attention for only a moment as she spotted the crown of vibrant red hair just like her own, familiar green eyes staring blankly at the sky.

She fell to her knees and crawled over to the prone form of her twin. She had failed to save Lily. She was too late. It was like losing the Village hidden by Whirling Tides all over again. A chocked sob escaped her throat as her vision blurred. She failed, she failed, she failed…but maybe not completely. 

She remembered from her lessons that a foetus can survive without oxygen from the mother for up to five minutes. It was complete madness, she would break so many laws but she would not allow herself fail completely. She knew what Lily would have wanted more than her own life, and it was that life which she would preserve.

By now she had a little over three minutes left to perform the jutsu that would allow her to transfer the baby from Lily to herself. Because they were identical twins the chance of the foetus rejecting her was less than ten percent. It was worth the risk of trying to save what Lily had died for. 

Her fingers flew through the necessary hand-signs laying one hand on Lily and the other on her own stomach. As she watched the hand on her sister’s stomach let off the blue glow that signified her chakra was active as it seeped into her sister the glow changed from blue to pale green. The green chakra created a link to her own stomach and as she watched a small bump, barely visible, began to form as she found herself 3 months pregnant with her nephew.

She waited to discover if the foetus would reject her, if it did it would happen quickly. When ten minutes had passed and she hadn’t started bleeding she knew that the foetus had accepted her.

A roaring sound outside the house startled her into action. Faster than a civilian could see she fled, a red blur. Hopping from roof to roof she looked down at the rusted iron coin in her hand.

“Mission completed,” she whispered the password with a sad smile. In moments she felt a hook behind her navel spinning her away.

***

The birth was supposed to be simple. They had planned it for months. She had no idea who had leaked the location or who the man attacking the village was. It had all been ruined. 

She looked down at her nephew with a sad smile as the claw of the nine-tails pierced her stomach. Small droplets of her blood dripped onto the infant marring his perfect pale skin. Hadrian had dark hair which neither she nor Minato had, she hoped no one asked too many questions as she knew she would not be there to answer them. They were dying and they would do this last thing for their village. She just wished it wasn’t her nephew that they had to sacrifice in the process. His fine bones and delicate nose were from Lily and by extension from her as well. His eyes had yet changed from the milky blue of infants waiting to change into another colour. She hoped they would be green.

Behind her Minato started the sealing ritual that will seal the demon inside her nephew. It would also trap his soul leaving her to go on to the afterlife without him. She hoped she would see her parents and sister on the other side.

She looked down at the crying infant, “I didn’t want this for you.”

When he had been inside her she had not felt any chakra, it was like being around Lily when they were young the network was there but dormant their life energy coming from something else, but she also knew that the Kyuubi was pure chakra and that when he was sealed into Harry it would force the chakra network to activate and develop. He would go to the academy and no matter what Minato said he would be hated by the village.

“Hadrian, you’ll need to grow strong. Make friends, you don’t need a lot of friends, just a few, ones you can really, really trust. I wasn’t very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practise your jutsu. Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so don’t get too depressed if you can’t do something well,” she paused in her last words when she noticed that Harry had stopped crying. She blinked the tears from her eyes. He was watching her with a solemn expression on his face his eyes as bright green as the light that filled the sky the night Lillian died. She almost felt like he was actually understanding what she was saying. She shook such silly thoughts from her head.

“You know Hadrian, from now on, you’re going to face lots of pain and hardship,” the villagers she knew would not be kind, “Be true to yourself. Have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true. There’s so much, so much more that I want to pass on to you. I wish I could stay with you longer but Lily and I will both watch over you. I love you.”

Kushina felt herself fall against the alter as the Kyuubi disappeared into the small baby in front of her. Her last thoughts were a wish, for Harry to be safe, loved, and achieve all he set out to do. It was a mother’s wish and she knew wherever she was Lily would have wanted the same for him.


	3. Chapter 1

“Brat”

“Abomination”

“Freak”

“Demon”

The names the villagers called him daily for the last seven years hurt. The words were like knives stabbing into his heart but the wounds they left would never heal. No one would allow him to play with their children as he might contaminate them with his evil vileness. But he was fine alone, because he was above them, he would prove to them all one day that he was better…and they would never see it coming. He would be the Hokage one day, believe it. 

He was nervous about being out on his birthday. Every year the village held a festival to celebrate the defeat of the nine-tailed fox on July 31st. Every year the week leading up to the day was torment as the villagers became extra aggressive, but the actual day, that was when the villagers were at their worst. It was also the only day that he could get the special Ichiraku festival Ramen he had been waiting his whole life to try.

While waiting in line he could hear the mutters of the villagers slowly increasing in volume and rage as if working themselves up for something. He shifted nervously in place wondering if the Ramen was really worth leaving the safety of his home. He glanced to the side only to have a rock thrown by one of the villagers slice into his cheek. He felt the sting of his skin splitting open, the tickle of his blood as it trickled down his face. He staggers back his had going to his cheek. Almost immediately the blood stopped and the stinging vanished. Usually, the villagers would have contained themselves to only using words to hurt but today was more special than he had anticipated. He wiped the blood from his completely healed cheek.

“He really is a monster,” yelled the male villager who had thrown the rock.

“He isn’t human at all,” yelled another.

“Kill him!” screeched a woman from the crowd.

He felt the others in line turning to face him. It was all the motivation they needed and all they had been waiting for. He left the line and began to run as fast as he could. The crowd descended on him with a certain coldness in their eyes that felt as though he would never be happy or safe again. Their eyes made him question whether he was truly the creature that they claimed him to be for what else could promt the expression they had. How could anyone look at him and reject his existence at the same time? It was his birthday, and here he was running through the streets using his small size to weave through the crowds before the people he passed noticed him while trying to loose his determined pursuers. A group that continued to grow.

He turned around a corner only to notice too late that it was a dead end. He kicked himself mentally for his stupid split second decision. He knew these streets. He knew this alley wouldn’t lead him to safety but had turned down it anyway. He reached the wall despair filling every fibre of his being as he slammed his fists into the plaster. He felt tears already beginning to gather making his eyes burn. He closed his eyes so the villagers wouldn’t see his weakness and waited for the first blow to land. He was wishing with all his might to be safe, to be home. 

He felt his ears pop and suddenly everything was quieter, the sounds of the festival muffled and distant. For a startling moment he worried he might have gotten hit in the head, but that would be ridiculous. He could feel his pulse pounding past his ears. He opened his eyes and looked at the inside of his door. He had no idea how he had gotten home but now was not the time for questions. He slid the deadbolt in and ran to his bedroom.

He spent the rest of his birthday huddled under the covers listening to the mob shouting outside his window. He ignored the hollow ache in his stomach as it growled at him in complaint praying that no one would be able to break in. At around two in the morning the shouting finally quieted. The fear and adrenalin slowly bled away before he was finally able to fall asleep.

When he woke up the next morning, he did think about how he had gotten home. He realized that he had somehow made his wish come true and decided to see if he could do it again.

***

He thought things with the villagers would be different when he enrolled in the Academy. They weren’t. The villagers still treated him like he was scum, only now a large portion of the older shinobi, who had previously ignored him, joined in on the taunting. He still had no idea what he could have done to them but sometimes when their words became to much to bear suddenly they would lose their voices. The fear in their eyes when this happened always made him run because he did not want to see it turn to more anger and hatred.

He thought the teachers would treat him like everyone else. They didn’t. So he pranked them mercilessly. He was, in his opinion, showing exceptional talent at setting traps, a must have skill for a shinobi. His pranks were brilliant and landed on fully trained Chūnin teachers, although sometimes he wasn’t even sure how he managed them, like the time he turned Iruka-sensei’s hair blue for the week. Of course sometimes he would get detentions for his pranks. The teachers took advantage of this time to make him work, usually cleaning, while they had a captive audience to spew their bile at. 

He thought he would finally make some friends. He wanted to make friends as the red haired woman in his dreams told him he should but it seemed like he wasn’t very good at it either. He skipped lessons sometimes with three other boys and a dog. But though they were friendly, they were not friends. Still, he hoped that maybe one day they could be his friends for real. It just wasn’t that day or the next or the next after that.

His days in the academy soon fell into a pattern: he would play a prank on the teacher, get yelled at; act the class clown, get laughed at; skip class and then not be able to answer when the teacher asked him a question, be called an idiot; not pick up the physical training as fast as the shinobi raised children, be called dead last; try to make friends, spend the walk from school alone. 

But little did anyone know that he soon learnt how to succeed. He learnt to hide his true potential from the rest of the village as he had no guarantee that they would not try to destroy him if they thought he was a threat. He took his fate into his own hands and sought to better himself in secret and only play the part he had unwittingly given himself until the time was right. He sometimes wondered how they could not see past the mask that he had made, but then part of being a shinobi was knowing how to blend into enemy territory. 

A new routine began to form after the academy let out for the day. He walked to the library after school and studied, not only his assigned work but also books that went more in depth on the subjects they were learning. At first the librarian had tried to keep him out but he had old man Hokage on his side and now they had to let him in but they still refused to loan him any books citing a fear that he would damage them. Because of that he was only able to study them at the library. As a result he had his own personal table in the back corner where he never saw anyone. The library was a surprisingly empty place, at least when he was there. When his research was done he would fill out his homework to receive 50% no more and no less.

Once he was done studying for the day he would spend his evenings in the forest outside the village working up a sweat as he practised his taijutsu forms. He also practised sensing and controlling his chakra. The clearing he went to was his alone. He has never been disturbed or followed. It was his safe place. It was the only safe place he had besides his own home.

When he would go to bed at night after a shower and a cup ramen supper, he would stare out his window. Sometimes he would try wishing really hard for something he wanted. Sometimes when he woke up the thing he wanted was there. He kept his successes in a box at the top of his closet to remind himself that anything was possible if he just wanted it enough.

***

While he was walking past the Uchiha compound on his own one night he noticed that the gates were closed. It was strange because they were normally always open so the police force could act quickly if needed.

‘Not that they have ever helped me,’ he thought sourly. Lost in his own head he didn’t notice the person walking toward him until he had already bumped into them.

“Watch where you’re going, Dobe,” a familiar and greatly disliked voice said. 

He looked up into the cold eyes of Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke was only a few shades darker skinned than he was because he never seemed to tan only burn in the sun. They had the same black hair even if his was always a mess. But where he was just small, Sasuke was average height and would one day be broad and well filled out while he would always be lithe. He hated Sasuke for having what he didn’t without trying. It didn’t help that he didn’t deserve it. Sasuke was a spoiled bastard who thought he was better than everyone else.

He was about to yell back at Sasuke that maybe he should watch where he was going but then he remembered why he hadn’t been paying attention in the first place, “Hey, Teme, why are the gates to the Uchiha compound closed?”

“It’s none of your business, dead last,” Sasuke said making sure to bump him again on the way past. 

He felt like getting angry but it just wasn’t worth it. He decided to leave it be for now, but he still didn’t like the guy. He just could not understand what everyone saw in such a spoiled rotten brat. He would teach Sasuke a lesson one day, once he was Hokage things would definitely be different.

When Sasuke came back to class after the massacre of his clan, he thought that they might be friends. They both were alone now. He hoped they would be able to understand each other But Sasuke was bitter about his loss and rejected the friendship he had offered. He was still alone.


	4. Chapter 2

He had just finished painting the faces on the Hokage monument. How no one had noticed until he was finished was beyond him. But they had seen it now and in the last four years he had spent at the academy he had gained enough of a reputation that they knew his work on sight. The pail of yellow paint he was still carrying could also have been a bit of a giveaway.

“Hadrian, come back here! When I get my hands on you!” a random chūnin shouted while chasing him through the streets. 

He laughed. They would never be able catch him if he didn’t want to be caught. The chase would be fun and an excellent training exercise to help him hone his escaping skills until he had to let them catch him. Wouldn’t want to show his full skill level just yet. 

“You crossed the line this time Uzumaki!” the man’s partner yelled at him.

He rolled his eyes and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop trying not to laugh as he did so. The two chūnin following him were never going to make it to jōnin. If this was the level of the chūnin, the future of the Hidden Leaf was in trouble.

He felt that now was an appropriate time to taunt the pair, “Give it up, you’re only upset because you don’t have the bravery to do what I do. Do you? You’re just a couple of losers! Wannabes! You’ll never catch me!”

But of course that wasn’t actually true. He was going to let them catch him but only after they had a merry little chase through the village so everyone could see their complete incompetence. He dropped down onto a street he knew well and pulled out one of the training sheets that was meant camouflage him so he blended into the fence. He pushed chakra into the sheet and the drawing change to look more realistic and hide the seams. He waited quietly for the two shinobi to pass him. It was not hard when they did as they were still yelling for him to stop even though they could no longer see him, clearly giving away their position.

Once they were out of earshot he let the sheet crumple into his hands, “Too easy.”

He turned to go in the opposite direction and ran into a lumpy vest. He groaned when he looked up and saw that it is his academy instructor. How had he not noticed him walking up? It appeared as though he would need to start working harder on improving his observation skills.

“What’re you doing here? You’re suppose to be in class,” Iruka folded his arms across his chest going for the stern teacher look, “I’m at the end of my rope, Hadrian. You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you’ve got another chance and you’re messing up, again.”

Harry scoffed. He had failed on purpose as he wasn’t done learning yet. He was in no hurry, he would be Hokage there was no doubt in his mind on that point, but he was going to do it right by learning all he could on his own so he could be the best shinobi this village had ever seen and surpass all the Hokage that had come before him.

Iruka sighed his brown eyes looking so disappointed. He turned and motioned for him to follow him back to the classroom. 

As they walked Iruka sighed the question he had no doubt been waiting to ask, “Why would you do that to the Hokage monument? Don’t you know what it means?”

“Everybody knows, sensei. They were once the greatest shinobi of their time. The best of the best,” he shrugged as though it should have been obvious.

“That doesn’t explain why you-“

“I did it because I’m going to be greater than any of them. Me, Hadrian, will be Hokage. A legend among shinobi! Then everyone will have to stop discriminating against me. They will look up to me knowing I am better! Believe it!”

He pushed open the door into the classroom slumping into the only empty desk which was at the back of class. He turned to stare out the window intent on ignoring anything else that was said. He was bored already.

“Because you missed it Hadrian,” he turned to look at Iruka, his name capturing his attention, “everyone will be reviewing the transformation jutsu.” 

The entire class groaned turning around in their seats to send glares in his direction. It was nothing new so as usual he plastered on a smile and ignored them. He put on a show of pouting as he stood in the line the other students had formed across the front of the classroom.

Sakura of course went first due to her insecurity about being civilian raised. Some people thought they were related because she also had green eyes, but hers were dull compared the the vibrant glowing green of his own eyes. She liked to think she was the smartest student in the class. She wasn’t. 

She transformed perfectly into Iruka who of course was flattered and gave her top marks. She immediately looked at the Teme for approval, as if Sasuke ever cared about anyone but himself. Sasuke was next and transformed perfectly, and then it was his turn. He knew he had to keep his image but sometimes even though he caused it on purpose it still hurt knowing they were going to laugh at him.

Now it was his turn his angry classmates made their displeasure known. He could hear mumbled conversations further down the line.

“This is a total waste of time Hadrian,” Shikamaru said from beside him in his usual bland manner. 

Unfortunately, Shikamaru remained only a semi-friendly acquaintance rather than the friend he had hoped for four years ago. He was ten years old and still didn’t have a single true friend among his classmates. 

“We always pay for your screw-ups,” Ino added her opinion despite no one asking her to contribute.

“Like I care,” he sneered moving his hands into the proper position to create the transformation jutsu.

“Hadrian, do your best,” Hinata said softly. 

He smiled at her, she alone seemed to see his potential through his mask. It was a pity she was so timid a leaf blowing across the road nearly caused her to faint or they might have managed to be friends. He sighed knowing he wouldn’t be able to find someone he could really, really trust among the other students. She was nice though and he appreciated the encouragement even if he was setting up to fail again.

He was surrounded by a blue glow for a moment before he was replaced by a perfect doppelgänger had he been born a girl. She had long black hair with a slight reddish tint when hit by direct sunlight, creamy pale skin, brilliant green eyes, ruby red lips, and a body with curves to die for. She could have passed for a princess had she not been posing provocatively with only thick puffs of smoke to hide her more intimate parts. When Iruka’s face turned so red he looked like he was about to pass out Harry released the jutsu.

He laughed, “What did you think of my sexy jutsu, sensei?”

“Stop it with the stupid tricks! This is your last warning!” Harry sighed, once again his genius had gone unnoticed. He created a transformation from scratch, not a cheap copy of someone else. His was better. It deserved acknowledgement but he knew he wouldn’t get it. It was his own fault for playing stupid.

***

The next day Harry arrived at the Academy to take his final exam. He once again had no real interest in passing as he didn’t really want to be on a team with any of his current classmates. Maybe the year below him would be best.

Iruka started the exams, “When your name is called proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on the clone jutsu.”

‘Perfect.’

*

“You fail!” of course he knew he would. He put on a dramatic show about how upset he was. 

That was when the second sensei spoke up. Mizuki was supposedly there to prevent favouritism leading to a false passing of a student. Understandable had the instructor been anyone besides Iruka who was fair to a fault, even to him.

“Iruka, his clone was a little off,” he snickered internally, it was more than a little bad, “but he did hang in there and replicate. This is his third try so you know he really wants to become a Shinobi. We could give him a break and pass him.”

It was interesting, this teacher he had never met trying to pass him when he clearly didn’t deserve it. He was curious about where this might be leading. He put on his best hopeful puppy eyes and looked at Iruka. 

“Mizuki-sensei, the other students created at least three effective replications. But Hadrian could only create one imperfect clone. It’s pitiful. I can’t pass him.”

And that was that. With an internal shrug he left the Academy pretending to be heartbroken.

***

To his surprise, later that evening Mizuki made a special trip to his home supposedly to commiserate over his failure. Things were just getting better and better. He sat on his balcony and listened to what the man had to say, “Iruka-senei’s tough, but he’s not against you.”

‘Intresting.’ “Then why? Why only me?” 

“He wants you to be strong with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you.”

“But…this time I really wanted to graduate.”

“Then I guess I have to tell you,” Mizuki said chuckling.

“Tell me what?” he tilts his head to the side.

“It’s a secret, but I’m gonna let you in on it.”

“A secret?” He wished Mizuki would cut the dramatics, he was beginning to get bored.

Mizuki nodded, “There is a sacred scroll located in the Hokage tower. If you can take it and learn once jutsu from it you will be allowed to graduate.”

He could see the obvious lie but it sounded like fun. He enjoyed gaining new skills wherever possible. He wondered what kind of jutsu could be in the scroll that Mizuki would want so badly. This would be so much fun. He couldn’t wait.

***

 

He looked at the scroll he had borrowed without permission. It had been almost to easy. He had, after all, made a habit of complaining/begging to the Hokage every time he failed an exam. The Anbu who guarded the tower had just let him walk right in assuming he was going to see the Hokage. 

‘The first technique is…multi shadow clone jutsu, should be simple enough.’ He read the instructions in the scroll carefully before putting the scroll aside. He stood and completed the hand-signs while focusing his chakra. His chakra was a mix of mental and physical energy and he had to figure out the correct balance through trial and error, though being self taught this was something he could now do fairly quickly. As was his nature he used more mental energy when using jutsu at first. He was smart and always learnt the theory first which made mental energy his default. A deformed clone of him that seemed to be melting poofed in beside him.

With a small sigh he tried again this time adding more physical energy to the mix. A perfect clone popped up to his right with a matching grin on its face. Now he was close to the right balance he could refine the technique and test how far he could push his ability with the clones. 

Over the next hour his experiments with the clones yielded great results. He discovered that what one clone knew all the others knew once the jutsu was released or broken. It would definitely help him with his physical training, after all, a tree cannot point out your mistakes. With a triumphant grin he laid down on the grass tired after using so much chakra continuously. He closed his eyes for what was meant to only be a moment.

*

“It’s all over, Hadrian,” the sound of Iruka’s voice startled him back to consciousness.

His eyes shot open as he met Iruka’s angry gaze. The man looked like he was a second away from dragging him back to the village and throwing him into a jail cell. His hands were on his hips as he loomed over him using his size in an attempt to intimidate. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. The scroll must have been more important than he had guessed.

He smiled as if unconcerned, “Caught me already? Not bad, sensei. I only had time to learn one technique. I’ll show you this amazing jutsu and then you will let me graduate. That’s how it works right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll automatically becomes a genin.”

Iruka looked confused for a moment before his anger came back, “Where’d you get that idea?”

“Mizuki-sensei told me about it. He told me where to find the scroll,” He looks up through his lashes at his teacher’s face. 

Iruka’s mouth was open in an expression of complete shock. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up but before he could dodge he was pushed to the side onto the ground. He stood up swiftly and pat away the bits of grass that clung to his clothes. Beside him Iruka was slumping over with kunai sticking out of various places on his arms and legs. Luckily, it looked like they didn’t dig too deep as the blood didn’t spread very far. It would still cause Iruka some trouble moving around quickly though so he couldn’t rely on him for protection.

“I see you found our little thief,” Mizuki said, “Hadrian. Give me the scroll, now!”

He looked back and forth between Iruka and Mizuki, “What’s going on here?”

“Hadrian! Don’t let Mizuki get the scroll. It contains forbidden jutsu that can put this village in grave danger. Mizuki used you to get the scroll for himself, for his own gain,” Iruka said with a voice filled with pain. 

He had already know that Mizuki had ulterior motives. Iruka was glaring at Mizuki with such a look of betrayal that he felt bad for him. He supposed it would hurt if a friend betrayed you though he personally didn’t know the feeling.

Mizuki tried to deny Iruka’s allegations, “Iruka is just trying to scare you because he doesn’t want you to have the scroll.”

‘Of course he wouldn’t want me to have the scroll, it contains forbidden jutsu.’ He shook his head internally, how stupid did they think he was. For the first time in a long time he felt as though he may have played his role too well. He looked to Iruka-sensei.

“Stop lying Mizuki! Don’t let him trick you Hadrian!”

“I’ll tell you who’s really lying,” he shifted his attention back toward Mizuki.

“No Mizuki!” Iruka yelled desperately.

“They’ve been lying to you your whole life. Since the decree to lie to you was made ten years ago,” this was becoming intriguing, now Mizuki had his full attention.

With the most confused and innocent expression he could muster despite the anger he could feel bubbling in his stomach, he asked, “What decree?”

Mizuki looked gleeful, “Something everyone knows in the village except you. Iruka’s trying to hide it from you even now. He’d do anything to shut me up!”

‘So maybe you want to tell me before he does?’ With an inner eye roll he asked, “What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?”

“Don’t tell him it’s forbidden!” Iruka screeched, seemingly even more desperate than before. 

Iruka pulled out a kunai that had been lodged in his leg and threw it at Mizuki who hit it away with the back of his hand like an insect.

“The decree that no one can tell you the nine-tailed fox is inside you,” Mizuki said smug.

His eyes widened with genuine surprise. He had a beast inside him. Slowly, all the memories of his childhood clicked into place. Along with the understanding came anger, he was not the nine-tailed fox. He had been used by them and then abused by them. Without him their village would have been destroyed. How dare they? ‘They wanted us to suffer.’ A thought that did not belong to him. He closed his eyes and thought back to his first year in the Academy. They had needed to learn how to find and control their chakra. He sunk into his own mind the way he had been taught to find the source.

He gasped out loud when he saw the form of the demon fox in his mind. He quickly lost his concentration and opened his eyes.

Mizuki was still talking, “The fox spirit that killed Iruka’s parents and destroyed most of our village has taken over your body! You are the nine-tailed fox!”

‘I am not,’ he thought narrowing his eyes at Mizuki.

Suddenly, as if a dam had broken Iruka yelled, “Stop it!” 

He looked to be on the verge of losing it.

But Mizuki continued on anyway, “They’ve all been sneaking around hiding things from you your whole life. Didn’t you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt. Like they hated you for just being alive. Nobody accepts you. That’s why Iruka and everyone else hates you so much!”

“No!” he yelled back. He believed him even if he didn’t want to. A pit had formed in his stomach making him feel sick. He was having a hard time coming to terms in his own mind with all the ways humanity had let him down. His eyes started burning but he fought back the feeling.

“Die Hadrian,” Mizuki threw a giant shuriken as he yelled it.

He tensed preparing to avoid the weapon at the last moment but once again found himself on the ground.

“Get down,” Iruka said as he threw himself on top of him letting the point of the shuriken stab him in the back. Luckily the point had missed his spinal cord but it was very close.

Blood dribbled from Iruka’s mouth and dripped onto the horrible orange jumpsuit the villagers made him wear. It was repulsive but at the same time it was nice to know Iruka seemed to care if he lived or died which was more than he had expected.

“Why?” he asked from his place on the ground.

“Because you and I are the same. After my parents died, nobody paid attention to me or gave me any support. I wasn’t a good student in school. I was the class clown because I wanted people to notice me. I couldn’t get noticed through excellence, so I kept doing stupid things. It was so hard. Isn’t that right, Hadrian?,” Iruka began to cry and it seemed like a weight was being lifted from his shoulders, “You felt so lonely. You suffered inside, right? I’m sorry. If I had been more responsible, maybe you wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

He looked up into his teacher’s eyes. The emotion he was speaking with seemed so genuine. He felt the tears landing on his neck and felt himself softening toward the instructor a little more. Maybe he would try to do less pranks in class next year. Maybe he could trust him. Just a little.

He heard laughing from above and glanced at where Mizuki was still crouching on a tree branch, “He’s lying. Iruka has always hated you, ever since you killed his parents. He’s just saying all that to get the Scroll of Sealing back.”

He stiffened unsure what to do. He knew that shinobi were trained to lie, to infiltrate, to spy. Iruka could be lying or he could be telling the truth, he didn’t have enough experience with genuine human emotion being directed toward him aside from hate and anger. He did the only thing that made sense to him. He ran.

As he ran he heard Iruka calling for him to come back but he couldn’t risk it. He listened closely for the sound of pursuers chasing him but didn’t hear anything. He slowed down and veered to the left. He hid behind a large tree out of sight. Finally, after a couple of minutes he heard the sounds of voices one of which sounded like his. He glanced around the tree in time to see Iruka turn into Mizuki followed by a copy of him turning into Iruka. As the smoke cleared he could see how exhausted his teacher looked propped against the tree.

“What good is there in protecting the one who killed your parents?” Mizuki asked Iruka.

“I’m not going to let an idiot like you get that scroll,” Iruka panted out.

It confirmed that though Iruka may not care for him they were on the same side against Mizuki. 

“You’re the idiot, Hadrian is the same as me.”

“Same as you?”

“Anything is possible with that scroll. There’s no way that Hadrian, the monster fox, won’t use its powers.”

From where he was listening Harry had to agree that he would very much like to study the scroll but unlike what Mizuki was implying he had no desire to use the scroll against the village.

“Yeah you’re right,” Iruka said.

Harry clenched his fists, ‘I knew it, he cares about the scroll, not me, all he has are pretty words.’ He hated that he could feel his eyes burning a little.

“If he was a monster fox,” Iruka continued, “But Hadrian is different. He’s an excellent student that I recognize. He’s a hardworking, earnest, and clumsy student. No one else recognizes him. He knows the pain of others. He’s not a monster fox. He’s Hadrian Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village.”

He felt the tension ease out of him as he finally decided to give Iruka into his heart, just a little. For someone who believed in him he could care but he would always keep himself guarded against pain. He would not let Iruka in that far.

“What an idiot. I said I would kill you later, but I take that back. You’ll die now,” Mizuki said as he removed a second large shuriken from his back. 

Instead of throwing the weapon like he did last time he spun it around his hand until it looked like a solid circle as opposed to a star. He ran toward Iruka and he knew that Iruka could not move fast enough to dodge. It was time to make a decision.

With a sigh feeling like he would regret it Harry ran from behind the tree and managed to kick Mizuki in the side. Because he had focused some of his chakra into his foot Mizuki swiftly flew through the air into a tree. The shuriken went flying into the forest and he thought he heard a hollow thunk as it buried itself in a tree. He felt rather proud that he was able to send a chūnin headfirst into a tree.

“I’ve decided that you are not going to hurt Iruka-sensei any further, I’ll kill you if you try,” he said deepening his voice at the end to show how serious he was.

“Talk while you can brat, I’ll finish a talentless child like you in no time,” Mizuki said as he slowly stood up.

“You can try,” he said bringing his hands into position for the multi shadow clone jutsu.

He created too many clones for Mizuki to count. He waited for the chūnin to attack but he stood in place looking at all the clones in shock. 

“I thought I heard you say you were going to finish me in no time. I’m waiting,” the clones all spoke in perfect synchronization. 

He was sure he sounded sufficiently creepy to scare Mizuki into surrender. He waited for the surrender still Mizuki did nothing but stand in the centre of his clones. Thinking it better not to risk Mizuki finding his courage, he sent his clones in for the attack. Once Mizuki was safely unconscious he released his clones waving the smoke away from his face with a cough.

He turned to Iruka, “Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?”

Iruka seemed to once again to be in a state of shock as all he was able to do was make a vaguely affirmative sound.

After a few minutes he seemed to get his voice back, “Hadrian, come here for a second.”

He walked over to Iruka, “Close your eyes,” he did as he was told and felt as his goggles were removed and replaced with a sweaty headband.

He had to keep his face from showing his disgust at having a damp piece of material tied to his head. It also ruined his plans to not graduate, he only hoped he would get on a team that he could get along with. He opened his eyes and smiled at Iruka like he was happy. He wasn’t.


	5. Chapter 3

Harry walked into the Academy with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. It hadn’t been his plan to graduate this year but since it had happened, he decided to make the best of it. He had managed to get a brand new forehead protector, fill in his paperwork, and gain a minion all in three days. He was ready to meet his team and officially begin his life as a genin shinobi.

As soon as he entered the classroom the other kids began to whisper. He revelled in their shock with a smug look.

“Why are you here? Today’s explanatory meeting is only for those of us who graduated,” Shikamaru decided to ruin his good mood.

He pointed to his forehead protector, “Starting today, I’m also a genin.”

Sensing that the conversation would take more effort than he wanted to spend and looking like he regretted saying anything at all Shikamaru just shrugged and moved toward the back of the class to take a seat. He had to stop himself from scowling at the boy’s back.

He went to his usual seat at the back of the classroom, next to the window. He watched the birds until Iruka-sensei came to announce the teams the Hokage had put together. He really hoped the old man hadn’t screwed him over. He didn’t even glance over when Sakura and Ino decided to make a spectacle of themselves by fangirling over Sasuke when they arrived. He hoped his team could avoid any fangirl drama.

He had decided to drop parts of his mask beginning today. Mostly, he was just tired of smiling constantly when he didn’t feel happy. He still didn’t want to show anyone his full strength, but he would show a lot more of his talents than he ever had in the academy. He couldn’t wait to see their faces when they realized how throughly they had been mislead. Iruka’s face in the woods when he produced the shadow clones was to be the first of many shocked faces now he was a genin.

Finally, Iruka arrived and stood at the lectern in front of the class, “Starting today, you are all officially shinobi, but you are still only new genin. It’s only going to get harder from here. That is why you will all be in groups of three. Each group will complete missions under a jounin teacher.”

“I wonder who’s going to be on Sasuke-kun’s team,” Ino asked Sakura from the bench in front of him.

“I don’t know,” Sakura replied trying to seem like she didn’t care.

He didn’t care who he ended up with as long as it wasn’t Sasuke. He knew with Sasuke’s issues they would never work well together. The teme didn’t know the meaning of the word teamwork.

As if to prove his point Sasuke started speaking, “A group of three? That’s only going to burden me.”

He rolled his eyes as Ino and Sakura got moon-eyed over how cool he was. He directed his attention back to the front of the room as Iruka cleared his throat to regain the class’s attention.

“We’ve arranged the groups so that overall abilities are equivalent. I will now announce the teams.”

‘Shit,’ he had a terrible premonition that his poor scores were going to come back to haunt him.

‘ _I could have told you that this would happen, had you bothered to ask._ ’

‘I didn’t ask you for your opinion then, or now.’ Ever since he had found the fox in his mind, he had to give his opinion on everything. He supposed it was fair given Kyuubi had to be even more lonely than he was, at least he could speak to people for the last ten years. Whether they wanted him to speak to them or not was beside the point.

‘ _I am not lonely_ ,’ the fox grumbled from the depths of his mind.

“Next, Team 7,” they were already on team 7?

“Hadrian Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha.”

His premonition had indeed been accurate. He dropped his head onto the desk. The forehead protector made a loud noise as it landed on the table. Deep in his mind he heard the fox laughing. He also knew that the other genin had turned to stare so naturally, he refused to lift his head. This was the absolute worst thing he could think of to happen.

“Right. Next, Team 8, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame. Team 9-”

‘ _Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to destroy the village with me?_ ’ Kyuubi asked amused.

‘I want you to shut up while I listen to the team assignments.’

‘ _You already missed the first six_.’

He didn’t think it was necessary to respond to that comment and tuned back in to Iruka, “Last, Team 10, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi.”

With a sigh he raised his head to find that Iruka was looking at him with an expectant expression. He stared at him until the chūnin felt uncomfortable. This time he was not going to make a scene, let them think he was pouting.

Iruka cleared his throat clearly thrown by the change in dynamics, “The jounin teachers will be meeting you in the afternoon, meeting adjourned until then.”

The new genin filed out of the classroom and spread out in the yard to eat their lunches. He quickly found Sakura walking around at the edge of the yard. He put on his best friendly face and caught up to her. It was time to make an effort in team bonding. He purposely left Sasuke out knowing he wouldn’t be interested.

“Sakura, do you want to eat lunch together since we are on the same team?” he asked her.

“Why do I have to eat with you?” the disgust in her voice was apparent.

He really didn’t want to eat with her, “We’re in the same group, so I thought-”

“You’re annoying,” she cut him off before walking away, “Sasuke-kun, where are you?”

He stood on the path for a few moments waiting for the hurt he felt to fade. It was unfair that people could hurt him so easily and not even notice. He would need to work on that. He turned in the opposite direction to go back to the Academy. He would just eat at the desk alone while he waited for lunch to be over.

‘ _Cheer up. You still have me,_ ’ the fox was not at all helpful.

He refused to speak to the Kyuubi while he ate his lunch. Slowly, the genin began to trickle back into the room in groups. He noticed that most chose to sit with their new teams. Sure enough Sasuke and Sakura joined him in the back of the room. He didn’t even attempt to acknowledge them.

After about ten minutes of waiting jounin teachers began to come in a couple at a time and lead away their groups until it was only team 7 that remained.

‘He’s late,’ he thought, ‘why is it only the jounin for team 7 that is late? It’s rude. I’m bored.’

‘ _Then do something instead of complain about it._ ’

He decided to take the advice that was so kindly offered. One last prank couldn’t hurt, for old times’ sake.

He stood from his seat and grabbed the grimiest eraser from the ledge on the chalkboard. He then placed it into the door so it would fall on the first person to enter the room. A harmless prank not even worthy of detention.

“It’s your own fault if you get in trouble,” Sakura scolded with her hands on her hips.

“A jounin isn’t going to fall for a plain trap like that,” Sasuke added.

Quick to show her devotion Sakura agreed right away, “yeah, Hadrian, you’re so stupid.”

He wished really hard for the eraser to go unnoticed as he made his way back to his seat with a shrug. He thought of nothing else and wanted nothing else but for the eraser to not be seen. Sure enough after a few minutes he noticed a faint shimmer surrounding the eraser. He knew his wish had been granted.

When the jounin walked into the classroom sure enough he didn’t notice the eraser until it fell into his hair, unfortunately his hair was white so the dust just blended in. He pouted at his failure but at least there was no way to prove who had done it.

“I’m sorry, sensei, I tried to stop him but Hadrian didn’t listen to me,” he glared at her. What kind of teammate just throws the other to the wolves? The teacher hadn’t even asked for names yet.

“How do I say this, my first impression of you guys is I hate you,” the jounin said in a monotone voice raising his only visible eyebrow, “follow me.”

With that the jounin turned back the way he had come. They followed him onto the part of the roof that was designed to be like a garden of sorts and Harry couldn’t help but feel that the hate was mutual. They all took a seat on the stairs while the jounin leaned against the low fence that surrounded the roof.

“Let’s see, why don’t you introduce yourselves,” he said just as unenthused as he had been in the classroom.

“Introduce ourselves? What should we say?” Sakura asked nervously.

“What you like, hate, your dreams and hobbies, something like that,” the sensei just really seemed like he didn’t want to be there.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself first, sensei,” he frowned at the man.

“I’m Kakashi Hatake. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream, I’m not going to tell you. I have a few hobbies,” he was really beginning to wish he had a different sensei. He made sure not to wish too hard otherwise the man known as Kakashi Hatake may cease to exist. Not that he would mourn but the Hokage would be displeased and he knew the village would find some way to find him guilty.

“All you told us was your name,” Sakura pointed out the obvious.

“Now it’s your turn,” Kakashi completely ignored her, he pointed at Harry, “you first.”

“My name is Hadrian Uzumaki, I like people who are engaged in the conversation they are having, I dislike people who judge a person before they know them, my dream is to be Hokage, and my hobby is none of your business,” he wasn’t going to tell them that he had been practising wishing very hard for things recently, or that sometimes his wishes came true. That would just be stupid.

He watched Kakashi throughout his speech and was pretty pleased with himself when he saw his eye widen in shock before going back to being half lidded. He didn’t even look at Sakura or Sasuke to find out what they thought about what he said. It only occurred to him after that he had also judged Kakashi before he had actually known him for longer than a minute.

“Okay next,” Kakashi pointed to Sakura.

“I’m Sakura Haruno. I like… well the person I like is,” she glanced over at Sasuke with a blush staining her cheeks, “and my hobby is… well my dream is to,” she broke off so she could squeal, “And I hate Hadrian.”

He rolled his eyes and decided to watch the sky since he didn’t care what Sasuke had to say. This team was doomed to failure. He wondered how long he had to wait until he could request a transfer. He figured he could try after a few months citing irreconcilable differences.

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are many things I hate, and there aren’t a lot of things that I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention of leaving as just a dream. The revival of my clan, and to kill a certain man.”

If awards were given for overly dramatic speeches Sasuke would win. Personally, he liked to think he would win in the snark category. Sakura would win the, actually he couldn’t think of anything, so she would win nothing.

“Alright, you three have unique personalities, I like that. We’re going to begin taking missions starting tomorrow,” Kakashi stated, “First, there will be survival training with just us four.”

“Why are we going to be training before we go on a mission? We had plenty of training at the academy,” Sakura complained.

“This is no ordinary training,” Kakashi hinted.

“Then what kind of training is it?” Sasuke asked like it pained him.

The teacher just started to laugh creepily, “I’m sure you three are going to be surprised, but out of twenty-seven graduates only nine will stay as genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the academy. This training will be a very difficult test with a 66% dropout rate.”

‘There goes my plan to skip it,’ he thought with dissatisfaction.

‘ _You know if you don’t go you could go back to your original plan of graduating next year_ ,’ The fox soothed.

‘After all the trouble I seemingly went through to graduate that would be beyond suspicious.’

“I’m going to decide whether you pass or fail. Meet me at the training grounds at 5am and bring your shinobi gear,” Kakshi began to walk off but stopped and looked over his shoulder, “oh yeah, don’t eat breakfast. You’re going to throw up if you do.”

With nothing better to do he went home planning to eat a very large breakfast. It wasn’t like he didn’t deserve his rules to ignored, Kakashi had been so late he had wasted Harry’s entire day.


	6. Chapter 4

Harry arrived at the training grounds at 5am belly full of cereal. The sun had not yet risen but the sky was beginning to lighten allowing him to see where he was going as he made his way to the training grounds. Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the same time he did but from different directions. They met in the middle but none of them said anything, they just stood or sat on the grass waiting for their teacher to arrive.

The sun had already risen and was almost halfway across the sky before Kakashi bothered to arrive. Harry decided that in the future he was going to carry a book on him so he could at least do something useful with his time. Time, which his sensei seemed determined to waste.

“Good morning,” Kakashi said in a flat voice raising his hand in greeting.

“You’re late,” he and Sakura both said at the same time, though Saskura was louder.

“A black cat crossed my path, so…let’s move on,” the jounin said.

He crossed his arms and scowled at the jounin not willing to respond to such an awkward excuse. It was pathetic and lacked imagination. Kakashi took out a small alarm clock and placed it on a tree stump.

“Today’s task is to get one of these bells from me. Whoever can’t will have no lunch,” in his hand he held a pair of silver bells.

He was happy he had decided to ignore Kakashi’s orders not to have breakfast. While the others fought hungry he was at full strength. As if to prove his point Sakura’s stomach suddenly growled loud enough he could hear it from where he stood two feet away.

“What?” Sakura asked in disbelief.

“I’m going to tie you there, and eat lunch in front of you,” their sensei told her pointing to the stump that the alarm was sitting on and the two on either side.

“Why are there only two bells?” he asked sensing a trick somewhere.

“Since there’s only two, at least one of you will have to be tied to the log,” Kakashi said his only visible eye crinkling, “That person will fail because in not getting a bell they didn’t complete the mission.”

He narrowed his eyes, “What happens to the person who doesn’t get a bell?”

“They will go back to the Academy,” Kakshi jingled the bells in his hand for emphasis on the point.

He smiled, an idea already forming. He had a way to get the bell without fighting for it, though he still wanted to see if he could win it. Luckily, that is what shadow clones were made for. He could be in multiple places at once.

“You can use your weapons. You won’t be able to get a bell unless you have the will to kill me,” one black eye made contact with two green.

“But that’s too dangerous, sensei,” Sakura protested.

If he had to guess she would be the one going back to the academy. In fact he was sure of it. Sasuke despite his personality issues was talented.

Not wanting to appear as moody as Sasuke he decided to taunt Kakshi. “This should be easy, he couldn’t even dodge a chalkboard eraser.”

“In society, those who don’t have many abilities tend to complain more. Just ignore the guy with the lowest score,” Kakashi brushed him off.

That hurt. He was glad he had learnt at a young age how to hide what he was feeling. He made sure his face was completely blank aside from the slight narrowing of his eyes.

‘ _Maybe you should be more careful, you set yourself up for that_ ,’ he shrugged the fox off, the hurt would only help to fuel his clone’s wishing. Now he wanted those bells more than ever.

“We’ll start after I say, go,” Kakashi paused, “Go.”

Harry quickly leaped into the forest trying to get as far from Kakashi as possible. He knew the forests well from his evenings training. He split himself into four. One clone he sent to watch Sakura, the second to watch Sasuke. The third he sent to hide in the best spot it could find and set it to wishing very hard for the bells. Then, he walked back out of the woods to test himself against Kakashi directly. He wanted to know how his skill compared to a jounin. Being entirely self taught it was important for him to find out how his skills might compare to those who were taught properly by the academy teachers.

Kakashi looked around the training field pausing when his eye landed on Harry who was standing in the open.

“Aren’t you a little weird compared to the rest?” Kakashi asked seeming disappointed.

He shrugged, “You can think what you want.”

He ran toward Kakashi with purpose but there was still quite a bit of distance between them. Kakashi seemed to be bored and reached into his weapons pouch.

“Shinobi tactic number one, taijutsu. I’ll teach you that first,” Kakashi pulled out a dirty romance novel.

He paused frowning at the book. He refused to have anything in common with Kakashi-sensei and so he would not be brining a book with him when they went on missions. He would think of something else. Perhaps he would meditate, that would help him to focus and improve his wishing success. As it was he was only successful about 70% of the time. He certainly would never be caught with a book like that, period, and especially not in public. His nose crinkled like he smelt something rotten.

“What’s the matter? Come and get me,” the jounin had begun to read the book in his hand, “don’t worry it’s the same whether I read this or not.”

He ground his teeth silently. He knew he was being underestimated. He knew he could use it to his advantage so he shouldn’t rise to the bait. It was not a bad thing he told himself firmly, trying to believe it. But he would be lying if he said it didn’t make his blood boil.

‘ _If I helped you, we could take him easily_ ,’ the fox said as he began to leak some of his chakra beyond the cage.

The power of the red chakra was very tempting, but he didn’t want to rely on others. He needed to know that he was able to protect and fight for himself. He needed to measure how far behind or ahead he really was.

‘I appreciate the offer but I will have to decline. I am testing my strength today, not ours.’

The fox chuckled but the red chakra seeped back behind the bars of the cage, ‘ _Don’t cry to me if you fail_.’

Once the chakra was all gone he ran toward Kakashi pushing his chakra into his fist as he went. He went for a punch to the sensei’s face but his fist was blocked by Kakashi’s palm. Though he did cause Kakashi’s palm to be pushed back an inch. He followed up with a roundhouse kick once again pushing chakra into where his body would connect with Kakashi. They clashed for a few more minutes but every kick and punch was blocked by Kakshi. He was so focused on trying to land a hit that he hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. Suddenly, he found himself flying through the air over the riverbank.

The water was freezing. It was a shock to his system but brought back his focus. The mission was the bells. He needed to think more like a shinobi. He needed to get the bells not land a hit on Kakashi. Power in numbers was the best strategy he could think of. He quickly brought his hands together into the sign for shadow clones. Once the shadow clones were surrounding him in the water he took out a pair of shuriken and threw them toward the shhifting shape he identified as Kakashi standing on the bank.

He didn’t expect the weapons to work but he really needed a distraction so he could climb out of the river. He coughed a little as he pulled himself onto shore. He may have been pushing how long he was able to hold his breath. He glanced up to see that Kakashi had indeed caught the shuriken he had thrown at him.

“What’s wrong? You won’t get any lunch if you don’t get a bell by noon,” he glared at Kakashi, no one asked for his input.

He sent a mental signal toward the clones in the river. The clones used chakra to their feet to jump from the water and headed straight for Kakashi. While Kakashi was distracted he ran faster than he had ordered the clones to run in order to get behind Kakashi. He attacked the jounin jumping up onto his back. Just as Kakashi noticed the weight on his back the other clones reached Kakashi distracting him. From behind his back he used a combination of the transformation and substitution justsu and replaced the bells with a transformed kunai, meanwhile the bells were transformed into the kunai he had in his hand.

With a mental order he released the clone that had been wishing. In his moment of distraction Kakashi used the substitution technique to swap with a clone but it didn’t matter because the bells were his. Rather than tell the sensei that he had the bells he pretended to fail. He wasn’t sure if Kakashi was allowed to take them back but he was sure he couldn’t stop him if he tried. He released the clones surrounding him and looked for Kakashi. He was no longer in the clearing.

He glanced around to make sure there were no surprises waiting and something shiny caught his eye from beneath one of the trees. There was a bell sitting on the ground in the open. Because he already had the bells he knew it was a trap but, he was curious how the others would rise to the challenge of retrieving the bells and so allowed himself to be caught.

“Use your techniques while thinking carefully. Otherwise, they will be used to your disadvantage,” the bell turned into a rock with a small puff of smoke, “Also, don’t fall for such an obvious trap, stupid. Shinobi need to think beyond the normal.”

“I already know that,” he pouted, ‘and used it to great success, stupid.’

If only he could say what he wanted aloud. Inside his mind the fox was laughing and he had never felt so smug.

“I’m telling you this because you don’t, got it?” the sensei was in full lecture mode, he sighed having no choice but to listen, “Your movements are filled with unnecessary motions. You’re so…”

From behind Kakashi a mixture of shuriken and kunai came flying through the trees. He knew it would be from Sasuke because Sakura was only good at the written work.

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a wooden log. He looked around and saw that Kakashi hadn’t reentered the clearing meaning he was off with Sasuke and Sakura. He swung from the rope to gain some momentum. He grabbed his legs with a grunt of effort and pulled himself up so he could cut himself down. As he fell he twisted so that he would land on his feet but they were still tied together. He landed wrong and fell back on the ground hard. He felt like his bottom was going to be bruised when he wok up tomorrow. He took the kunai he had used to cut himself down and cut off the ropes keeping his feet together. He took the opportunity to spread his legs out and leaned back on his arms looking at the sky. He couldn’t think of anything better to do while he waited for the others to fail.

‘Oops!’ he suddenly realized that he had made a mistake.

He sat up quickly and put his head in his hands, “I’m so stupid.”

He realized he wouldn’t be able to reveal the bells as soon as he had planned because that wasn’t even the point of the test. Why would any jounin think a genin could get something off of them? The truth was that they couldn’t, not alone at least. They were meant to come together as a team and they had failed. He had failed to divine the true purpose so set on proving his own worth. He groaned into his hands. He really hoped there was a way to salvage his chances. Though given he technically passed the verbal challenge even if they don’t pass as a team he was sure there would be a team he could join. Shinobi did die on missions all the time.

It was also a fact that Sasuke was doted on in the village. Would the Hokage risk not letting him pass? And he was a jinchūriki, surely they would prefer he be a shinobi under their control than a regular civilian who could come and go as he pleased. He nodded to himself, he was sure there would be a second chance to pass the teamwork test. Now that he felt better, he got up and dusted off his pants wincing a little at the pain in his behind.

He heard Sakura scream from Somewhere behind him. He looked toward the forest as he received memories from the clone he had used to watch Sakura. She had been placed into a genjutsu while running around trying to find Sasuke as though she would be able to do anything even if she had found him. ‘Pathetic.’

He was bored waiting around for the others to come back. He decided to explore the training area a little as this training ground was one the academy had never used. Feeling a little hungry now that it was almost noon he decided to see if he could find the lunches Kakashi had promised anyone who got the bells. He did technically get the bells so one of them was his.

He found the lunches sitting on a stone memorial just beyond a thin line of trees. Reading the names he noticed several were from recognizable shinobi clans. It was a memorial to fallen shinobi. He bowed his head respectfully and picked up one of the lunches. Just as he was about to open it the memories from his last clone gave him the memories of Sasuke’s defeat. But with Sasuke now also defeated he put the lunch back down and tried to look innocent knowing Kakashi-sensei would be on his way back.

The alarm went off signalling it was noon. He let Kakashi tie him to the middle stump even though it was unfair. He had already figured there would be a second part to the test, giving them a second chance to pass. As he was being secured to the stump he felt his skin crawling with unease. He hated to be put in a position of vulnerability that he hadn’t orchestrated himself, after all if it was his idea he had a way out and was never truly vulnerable. It didn’t help that none of the others had done anything to earn his trust or goodwill.

After he had tied him up Kakashi had gone back into the forest and brought the other two over who were now seated on the ground in front of the other two stumps.

“I hear your stomachs growling,” Kakashi said even though it was really only Sakura’s, “By the way, the results of today’s training is that none of you need to return to the academy.”

The jounin paused to let what he said sink in. Sakura started to celebrate while Sasuka had a smug expression he was dong nothing to hide. But he knew it wasn’t that easy, they had failed, he was sure of it. He let confusion he didn’t feel show on his face as he looked at Kakashi.

“You three, should quit being shinobi,” as expected they had not passed.

“Why do you say we should quit being shinobi?” he asked, still playing up his confusion, “We didn’t get a bell but we didn’t do that horrible, did we?”

“It’s because you three are just kids who don’t deserve to be shinobi,” Sasuke ran to attack Kakashi and was promptly defeated, “See? You’re just kids.”

“Don’t step on Sasuke-kun,” Sakura yelled almost crying.

He rolled his eyes at her, a real enemy wouldn’t listen to your crying so why bother. They would in fact hurt Sasuke more to prove a point if she yelled like that to a real enemy. If you cannot back up your words with your actions, do not speak. Simple. It was a lesson he had learnt the hard way while dealing with the villagers growing up.

“Do you guys think being a shinobi is easy? Why do you think we’re training by breaking up into groups?” Kakashi seemed genuinely angry, even so, he wished he would stop lumping him in with the other two.

‘ _Then why don’t you show him the bells?_ ’ the fox supplied.

‘Because I would still fail. Weren’t you listening to me earlier,’ he snapped back.

‘ _Then stop complaining, it’s annoying. I was having a nap._ ’

‘Then go back to sleep.’

“In other words, you three don’t understand the answer of this test. Are your brains all empty. Can you really not understand why you’re all in a group?” the other two looked shocked at what he was saying but still seemed like they didn’t have a clue, “Teamwork.”

“You mean, cooperate with each other?” Sakura asked as though it was a concept she had never considered before.

“That’s right. But it’s too late even if you notice it now. If all three of you came at me at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell. But that’s too bad,” the jounin said standing to his full height.

“Why do we need to use teamwork when there’s only two bells. If three people work hard to get it, one person will have to go back to the academy. A group conflict will occur instead of teamwork,” Sakura complained thinking the test was unfair.

“Of course. This test tries to put you three against each other. In this situation, we select those who can prioritize teamwork before themselves. That was the purpose, but all of you were pathetic,” his eye moved to land on Sakura.

“Sakura, you cared more about Sasuke than Hadrian, even though Hadrian was right in front of you and you didn’t know where Sasuke was. Hadrian, all you did was work on your own. And you Sasuke, assumed that those two were only going to burden you and did everything yourself,” Kakashi looked at each of them as he reprimanded them about their actions during the test.

“Missions are done in groups. It’s true that shinobi need well-developed individual abilities, but it’s teamwork that is much more important. An individual action that disrupts the teamwork will result in danger or even death for the teammates. For example,” Kakashi pulled a kunai from his pouch and placed it at Sasuke’s neck, “Sakura, kill Hadrian or Sasuke will die. That’s what will happen.”

Kakashi removed the kunai from Sasuke’s throat and let him up. Harry felt concerned as he looked at Sakura. She had seemed so surprised when Kakashi made his request. He was sure he had seen her hand twitch toward her weapons pouch before she stopped herself. His eyes narrowed but he chose to ignore it for now, though he wouldn’t forget it.

“After getting someone taken hostage, you will be faced with a difficult decision, and someone will die. In every mission, you put your life on the line,” the jounin walked over to the memorial stone, “Look at this stone. All these names are those praised as heroes in this village. But they are not normal heroes, they are those who have died while on missions for the village. The names of my friends are carved here as well.”

He felt bad for Kakashi. He sounded so sad when he spoke of his friends’ names being on the stone. He wondered if he had been partially responsible given how passionate this subject seemed to make him. His speech had been long but looking over to the others it seemed it had been effective. They both looked thoroughly chastised with their heads bowed.

Then the moment he had waited for came, “I’ll give you one more chance. However, the battle for the bell will be much harsher after lunch. Eat lunch only if you are up to the challenge, but do not let Hadrian eat.”

“Why can’t I eat lunch?” he asked angry that he was being singled out when they had all failed.

“This is your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat lunch early. If anyone feeds him, that person will immediately fail,” with his warning given Kakashi walked off.

He felt shocked, at first, but then saw the trick. The only question was whether his so called teammates could figure it out as well. As the others sat down and began eating without even looking in his direction he began to doubt it. He felt this test was flawed as it did not require any acknowledgement of teamwork on his part, only Sasuke and Sakura needed to show they were willing to work as a team.

He decided to give them a little push, “I’ll be fine even if I don’t eat.”

The other two paused in their eating. Sasuke was the first to get it and glanced up at him before holding up his lunch. Harry looked at the lunch and then Sasuke in disbelief. He was tied to the stump, how exactly was Sasuke expecting him to eat it?

“Sasuke, sensei just said that we would fail if Hadrian eats,” Sakura cut in panicked and clueless.

“Don’t worry. I don’t sense him nearby,” Sasuke soothed her, “We three are going to get the bells together. It will only trouble us if he’s hungry.”

They were speaking like he wasn’t even there. He rolled his eyes at the sky wondering what he had done to deserve this. Sakura held out her lunch box for him to eat as well. They both seemed to have forgotten that his hands were literally tied.

“Thank you, but I can’t move my hands,” he stated the obvious.

“Hurry, we don’t know when Kakashi will be back,” Sasuke seemed annoyed at her despite the fact that he too had forgotten.

Sakura looked pained as she used her chopsticks to bring a mouthful of rice to his mouth, “I’m only going to do this once. You understand?”

He wished he could roll his eyes, “I understand.”

He ate the mouthful of rice just as Kakashi poofed back into the clearing.

“You three,” he yelled, “You broke the only rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?”

Kakashi completed the hand signs for a jutsu so quickly it was impossible to follow. Suddenly, the whole sky darkened, “Any last words?”

He remained silent.

Sasuke jumped in, “We’re a three man team.”

Sakura was quick to agree with Sasuke as always, “Yeah, we three are one.”

“You three are one, eh?” Kakashi said walking closer.

The sky was still ominously dark behind him as he loomed over them. It was intimidating to be so vulnerable, he couldn’t help but swallow nervously hoping he hadn’t misread things.

The jounin’s eye crinkled suddenly, “You pass!”

“We pass?” Sakura said shocked.

“In the world of shinobi, those who break the rules are called trash. But those who do not take care of their teammates are even worse than trash. The training ends here, you all pass. Our first official mission will be tomorrow.”

Sakura began to celebrate loudly. Sasuke was actually smiling. He felt accomplished which reminded him that he still had the bells.

“You can all go home,” Kakashi said as he started to leave.

“Kakashi-sensei,” he called out before the jounin got too far away. Were they really just going to leave him?

Sakura and Sasuke continued walking home. Kakashi turned back and untied him assuming that was why he called out.

“Sensei, before I forget,” he reached into his weapons pouch and brought out the transformed bells.

He hung the kunai from his index finger by the hole in the end of the handle and released the transformation jutsu with a puff of smoke. The bells that were on Kakashi’s belt also poofed into smoke and a kunai was left on his belt in their place. He smiled at his sensei who was shocked speechless.

“I thought you might like these back,” he dropped the bells wondering if Kakashi would be able to catch them despite his shock.

“Why did you wait to return them?” he asked catching them just before they hit the ground.

“Because I did figure out the point of the test,” he looked his sensei in the eyes, “I told you when we met, I dislike people who judge a person before they know them.”

He walked away without looking back at his new sensei.


	7. Chapter 5

After the bell test Kakashi didn’t treat him differently from the other genin. He did stop making comments about his test scores and skills though which was an improvement. He still hadn’t bonded closely with any of his teammates as friends but he was willing to trust them enough to work together. They had done several small missions within the village that could only really be called chores and nothing that they really needed teamwork to complete. Every mission they had been given so far any one of them could have done alone. He felt like something needed to change or he would go crazy.

The villagers that they helped out were always more than happy to compliment his teammates on their good work. For him there was only cold eyes and grudging silence. After the first five missions he had stopped hoping that being a genin would change the public opinion of him. He was still a demon in their eyes and that wouldn’t change just because he helped out with a few chores. It was demoralizing.

The mission they had just finished was to capture a runaway pet. He couldn’t blame the cat for running away, the owner was truly insufferable. Tora definitely had a good excuse to run. If it wasn’t for the paycheck he would have let it stay free. He passed Tora over to the woman who glared at him like he had somehow contaminated the creature. Once she had liberated the cat from him, she promptly tried to strangle it with her affection. He could barely keep the disgust from showing on his face.

He had to force himself to look away from the unfortunate cat when the Hokage began to speak, “Now then, Kakashi’s seventh unit’s next mission is babysitting Yojyu-sama’s boy or grocery shopping in the neighbouring town or helping dig up potatoes at-”

Harry couldn’t take anymore village missions. He was so tired of being glared at, so he interrupted, “No. To all of those. I think it’s time our team was challenged more, don’t you Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi sighed but before he had a chance to speak Iruka decided to interfere, “Hadrian, you’re still a new genin, everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience.”

“I understand, but our team is ready for more difficult missions,” he turned to his sensei urging him to grow a spine, “right Kakashi-sensei?”

“Hadrian, It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are,” the Hokage began, he settled in for the lecture he knew was coming, letting his mind wander.

“A lot of clients come to this village every day. They request things from babysitting to assassinations. The missions are then divided into different ranks based on difficulty. Each rank of shinobi can take on only certain mission ranks. We officials assign shinobi based on their individual skills and abilities. Then, if we complete the mission we gain a fee from the client. You have only been genin for two months, so D rank missions are best for you,” the third lectured.

He was beginning to regret ever playing stupid. At the rate they were going all of his extra training and the skills he had taught himself would atrophy from disuse. He turned to glare Kakashi in to backing him up. His sensei sighed rubbing at the back of his head while looking uncomfortable. He was no help at all.

He turned back to the third looking him in the eyes, “I am not the same person who used to play pranks all the time, old man.”

The Hokage held his eyes. It seemed like he was searching for something. Harry really hoped that he found it.

“Okay, I understand,” the third Hokage said from behind the desk.

He tried very hard but couldn’t keep himself from smiling, “If you insist, I will allow you to take on a C rank mission. It is to escort the client home and protect him. I’ll introduce him now.”

A chūnin led in a drunk old man. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of disdain toward the client. But he was getting what he wanted so he plastered a polite smile onto his face as he waited for the client to explain their mission.

“Hey, is the smallest one there with the idiotic face really a ninja?” the old man slurred.

‘I’ll kill him.’

‘ _Think about your job Hadrian, the best we can do is maim him. I suggest taking the hand holding the sake, he’ll miss it the most,_ ’ Kyuubi for all his faults, sometimes did have a good idea once in a while.

He took an aggressive step toward the old main only to feel a hand grab his collar, “Don’t kill the man you’re supposed to escort, idiot.”

He glared at Kakashi before whispering low enough for no one else to hear, “I was just going to maim him a little.”

“Don’t do that either,” Kakashi admonished.

He said nothing as he pulled his collar out of Kakashi’s hold. He crossed his arms and shrugged as he looked anywhere but the stupid old drunk.

“I am the famous bridge builder Tazuna. Once you escort me home I will have you guard me until the bridge I am building is completed,” slurred the man with self-importance.

***

With a sigh he sat against the wall just beside the village gates waiting for the others to gather. He had hoped for a C rank mission so he had packed his bag the night before. The others had an hour before they would arrive. He felt his excitement tempered by his dislike of the client.

Every villager who passed by the gates while he waited glared at him with cold eyes only making him feel worse. Becoming a genin had improved nothing about his relationship with the villagers. Every glance of cold eyes was a needle piercing his heart. It hurt.

By the time a shadow fell across him signifying that one of the others had arrived, he had stopped watching for them. He looked down at his lap with his eyes burning as he held back from crying. He hated that the villagers had the power to make him feel this way. He fought his outward appearance back to a polite neutral expression and glanced up before frowning.

It was the drunkard.

Thankfully, Tazuna didn’t say anything and Sakura and Sasuke were coming toward them having met up on the way. The only one missing was Kakashi. When the jounin did arrive he was surprisingly only ten minutes late, a new record.

He jumped up and led the way out of the gates without greeting Kakashi. He wanted to get as far away from the village as fast as he could. He almost wished he didn’t have to come back, almost.

“This is the first time I’ve ever left the village,” he said to anyone that might be listening.

Behind him he heard the old man ask, “Will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?”

Rather than defend him Kakashi just sighed, “I, a jounin, will be accompanying you. There’s no need to worry.”

‘ _Seems your teacher lacks confidence in you_.’

‘Leave me alone.’

‘ _I never will_ ,’ the fox assured him, ‘ _especially when you are weak_.’

He sighed, “You underestimate me, I dislike people who judge a person before they know them. For all you know, I might be the next Hokage.”

The old man grunted, “Hokage’s the number one ninja, right? I don’t think a guy like you can become one.”

He glared at the road ahead fighting the temptation to turn maim the old man. He could hear the sloshing of the alcohol inside the bottle as the man took another swig of sake.

“How lucky I am then, that what you think does not matter,” his voice wavered a little as he said it.

He slowed the pace of his walk until he was at the back of the group and let them get ahead of him but not out of sight. He just did not understand it. The villagers hated him because of Kyuubi, their children hated him because their parents hated him, but this old man had no reason. At least no reason he could think of. They had never even met before and yet he was willing to say such cruel things. It seemed as though he was doomed to never understand people apart from himself.

He watched the ground as they walked keeping his distance from the rest of them. There hadn’t been any rain for days but there was a puddle at the side of the road. The others either hadn’t noticed or were choosing to ignore it. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end in warning as he walked by.

After only a couple steps, two dark shadows quickly flew past him from behind. It was a pair of enemy shinobi. They quickly wrapped the chains connected between them around Kakashi who was at the front of their group. His stomach sank as he watched the chains wrap around him. They dug in to his flesh before ripping him into small pieces. Blood sprayed into the air and Sakura screamed unable to contain her fear. The sound of her scream froze him in place for a moment. But he had enough distance to see the pieces that landed on the ground were bits of log. The enemy shinobi didn’t seem to notice.

He felt that he should hurry to help them but at the same time he was far enough behind that they would likely be dead before he got there. He also knew Kakashi was fine and able to help them better than he could. He was determined not to be reckless with his life so he decided to just watch how the fight would play out.

The enemy shinobi went straight for Tazuna who was most likely their target. Sasuke didn’t freeze up and reached into his weapon pouch. He pulled out a kunai and shuriken. Then he held them for a moment before throwing the weapons toward the loop at the centre of the chain. The shuricken caught the chain and the kunai secured it in place. With a satisfying thunk the kunai and chain were embedded into the trunk of a nearby tree. Sasuke who was already moving grabbed them by the devices connecting the chains and kicked them both in the face. Even he could admit it was impressive. He almost felt like clapping but he didn’t.

The two shinobi released the chains from the devices and split up to attack separate targets. One went for Tazuna who had Sakura standing protectively in front of him and the other went for Sasuke. He wondered what was taking Kakashi so long to intervene, he couldn’t possibly think that Sasuke and Sakura could win. Before the enemies were able to reach their targets Kakashi reemerged from wherever he had been hiding and grabbed both shinobi by the neck. He squeezed his arms until their necks snapped ending the threat.

It was a rather short fight but at least no one was injured on their side. He hurried over to the group around Kakashi who looked at him as he arrived. He did not look happy.

“Sasuke, Sakura, good job both of you. Hadrian,” he said walking toward him, “You could have cost your teammates their lives.”

Kakashi was unfairly angry, “I would not have. I saw that you used the replacement technique.”

He gestured at the small pile of logs that were still in the centre of the road, “I would not have been much help compared to a jounin like you. It was safer to stay out of the way.”

He secretly agreed that he shouldn’t have been walking so far behind the rest of them but he wasn’t going to give Kakashi the satisfaction. Kakashi was being unfair.

“No Hadrian, you failed to act as part of the team. You saw the substitution but did it occur to you I might still have been hurt before I escaped?” Kakashi’s voice was raised.

“But you weren’t,” he felt so frustrated.

Kakashi looked at him disappointment joining the anger in his gaze. His sensei shook his head at him then turned his back and went over to Tazuna. It felt like Kakashi was rejecting him as a member of the team and it did not feel good.

“Tazuna, I need to talk to you,” Kakshi led Tazuna away from the group with Sasuke and Sakura staying close enough to overhear.

Sasuke and Sakura kept throwing him pitying looks like they felt bad for him, but neither one interfered or stood up for him. They were just as bad as Kakashi in his opinion.

He glared at Kakashi wishing his eyes could shoot kunai and hurt him, ‘I want to hurt him, Kyuubi, it just isn’t fair. What did I ever do to any of them?’

‘ _My name is Kurama, if you are going to whine at me, use it_.’

‘You actually have a name?’ he asked temporarily distracted from his anger in favour of shock.

‘ _Of course I have a name, I’ve lived for thousands of years. Did you think I would go all that time nameless?_ ’ the fox grumbled.

‘Huh.’

The fox stayed quiet for a few moments probably waiting for a more satisfying reaction.

He heard the fox huff, ‘ _You didn’t do anything wrong. The problem is them, not you_.’

‘It’s almost like you care, Kurama,’ he smiled slightly turning away from the rest of the group.

He sat down by a tree waiting for the leader to make his decisions. He would have no choice but to go along with him but he desperately wanted to stay away from the village for just a little longer.

‘ _I do care for you, we are linked together in a way that can’t be severed. I would do anything to ensure your safety. I am on your side_ ,’ After all if he died so did Kurama.

‘Kurama, do you think we could be friends? Can I trust you for more than just keeping me alive?’

The fox was silent and he began to get the sinking feeling that always preceded a rejection but then he heard it so soft he almost missed it, ‘ _Yes_.’

He blinked as a hand waved in front of his face. He glanced up at Kakashi who was giving him a concerned look. He wondered how long he had been there trying and failing to get his attention.

“Yes?” he asked him.

“It seems this mission should have been a higher rank. Sakura wants to quit, Sasuke would rather continue,” Kakashi told him.

He kept on a neutral face, “I would prefer to continue.”

Kakashi nodded, “Then it’s settled. We will continue on with the mission but we will be more careful.”

Kakashi offered his hand to help him up but he ignored it. He stood on his own and started walking. If Kakashi wanted better teamwork then the next fight they had he would oblige but he would not pretend to be happy with Kakashi. The silent treatment seemed appropriate.


	8. Chapter 6

Harry was sitting at the front of a medium sized row boat as they attempted to sneak into the Land of Waves. The mist was clinging to everything causing the journey to be uncomfortably damp. Around the boat all that he could see was a swirling void coloured with white and grey. It made the world somehow seem less real and more like the transition from reality into a dream. He shifted every so often trying to get comfortable as his clothes clung to him in odd ways. He was quickly growing to hate the mist.

“The mist is so thick. I can’t see what’s ahead,” Sakura confided nervously to Sasuke who was seated next to her.

“We should see the bridge soon. If we move along the side of the bridge, we’ll be at the Land of Waves in a few minutes,” the owner of the boat told her voice barely above a whisper.

He watched as massive columns rose from the water ahead of them revealing a massive half built bridge. It would be impressive once it was completed, large enough that market stalls could be placed on either side and still have room for carts and foot traffic to go by between them. He felt grudgingly impressed by the bridge builder they were escorting. But he still didn’t like him though.

“Tazuna, before we reach the pier there is something I need to know. The names of the ones who are after you and the reason they are after you,” he tilted his head to hear Kakashi better curious about Tazuna’s response.

“Very well,” Tazuna replied resigned, “An extremely terrible man is after my life. He is the president of a marine transportation company, the billionaire Gatoh. His company is legitimate on the outside but underground, he uses gangs and ninjas to smuggle drugs and contraband goods. A year ago, he set his sights on the Land of Waves as a base for his operations and took over the seas around Wave taking over the country and bringing ruin and poverty to the people of Wave. The one thing Gatoh fears is the completion of the bridge as it represents the freedom of the Land of Waves from his control.”

“I see. So you, as the one building the bridge, became an obstacle to him,” Sakura ascertained.

“Then those shinobi were sent by Gatoh,” Sasuke inferred.

“But I don’t understand. He’s a dangerous man that uses shinobi. Why did you hide that fact when you came to the hidden leaf with the mission request?” Kakashi asked.

“The Land of Waves is very poor. We didn’t have the money to request a B rank or above mission,” the old man tried to elicit sympathy, “If you quit the mission after we land, I’ll be killed for sure but there is no need to blame yourselves, I’m sure my grieving daughter and grandson won’t hold a grudge against the Hidden Leaf.”

He rolled his eyes as he heard three people sigh behind him, “I guess it can’t be helped. We will continue escorting you.”

“That’s good to hear,” Tazuna said satisfied that he had gotten his way.

The boat slipped into a tunnel where the mist thinned out. He was grateful to be able to see more than a foot in front of him even if all he saw were stone walls. He hoped the Land would be less moist when they finally reached the shore. He hadn’t spoken to any of the others since the incident with the enemy shinobi. It was his decision to give them the silent treatment but he did feel his mood lowering every day that they made no attempt to speak to him either. What good was the silent treatment if no one tried to talk to you?

At the other end of the tunnel the mist finally cleared. He took a deep breath of dry air and smiled before placing his neutral face back on. When they made landfall he was the first one to exit the boat. The land was mercifully dry and mist free.

As soon as they had exited the boat the man who owned it left not wanting to risk being seen with them as it would mean death for him and his family if Gatoh found out. He couldn’t blame the man, death was ugly, he would avoid it to the best of his ability too.

Now that they were in the Land of Waves it was likely that Gatoh would send stronger shinobi to attack them. He wondered if they would face a jounin next. He also wondered if Kakashi would be able to win against whoever they sent. Kakashi from what he had heard around the village had an excellent reputation as one of the best jounin in the leaf and a former Anbu member, and yet from his personal experience Harry felt that he was lacking. Of course, he also knew logically that Kakashi would not have shown all of his skills fighting against genin.

As they were walking Sasuke drew level with where he was walking slightly ahead of the others. He glanced over wondering if the other boy was going to say anything but he remained silent as he kept pace with Harry. It made him feel nervous like he was about to get into trouble, he couldn’t understand Sasuke’s motives at all given Sasuke had made it a point to ignore him ever since he had approached him after his clan’s murder. He quickened his pace so they wouldn’t be walking right next to each other and felt an instinctive warning cause the back of his neck to prickle.

He reached into his weapon pouch and threw a kunai in the direction the danger seemed to be coming from.

“Stop showing off, Hadrian,” Sakura yelled going over to the bushes the kunai had disappeared into.

“Yeah, shorty don’t scare us like that,” the old drunk shouted, “I almost had a heart attack.”

“Hadrian, you can’t throw kunai so recklessly,” Kakshi criticized, joining in with the others.

“I really did sense someone,” he advised them trying to keep the anger from his voice.

“Liar. Look what you’ve done,” Sakura pointed to a dead rabbit stuck to the base of a tree her face pale.

The kunai was lodged into the rabbits neck pining it to the trunk of a tree. The blood that was able to leak past the kunai turned the pure white fur pink. Something about the rabbit seemed off but he felt too bad to really consider it too much. He knew as a shinobi that he would kill. He just always assumed that they would be fighting back. He had a soft spot for animals he didn’t have for humans. Even though they didn’t like him much either, he had recently learnt that was because they could sense the Kyuubi. And so, he felt terribly guilty about the rabbit’s death. With slightly shaking hands he reached down and retrieved his kunai from the body. In another circumstance he would have tried to bury it but they were on a mission so there was no time to waste on such things. He turned away to see that Kakashi seemed to be in deep thought while he looked into the trees on the other side of the path.

“Everyone down,” Kakashi yelled just as a giant sword came from the trees aimed at Tazuna who was pushed to the ground just in time by Sakura.

The sword embedded itself in the tree where Harry had killed the rabbit. A shinobi landed on the sword’s handle topless with his headband on sideways. This made him worried as clearly the shinobi was not concerned about getting injured if he was choosing not to wear any protection. The torso contained the largest number of vital points that would kill a target in minutes or even seconds if hit. That made him think that the man was very strong. Again his doubts about Kakashi came to the front of his mind. He really hoped Kakashi would live up to his reputation. He took a few steps back so he was hovering at the edge of the group. It was better to let his sensei handle it.

“My, my, you are Zabuza Momochi, an exiled shinobi of the Village Hidden by Mist,” Kaskashi said holding out his hand to stop anyone coming forward and interfering, “Stay back everyone. He’s way different from the guys we met before.”

Kakashi did enjoy pointing out the obvious. He took a few more steps back until he was safely the furthest from Zabuza. Kakashi pulled up his headband to reveal his second eye when the enemy spoke, “I’m guessing you are Kakashi, the Sharingan user. I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to hand over the old man.”

Sasuke looked ready to kill something but stayed silent. Kakashi was somehow using a dōjutsu that was exclusive to the Uchiha, or rather used to be if Kakashi had one. He wondered if it was stolen, he couldn’t see a clan like the Uchiha just giving one away. Sure enough when he looked, the second eye was a deep blood red with black patterns, a sharingan.

“Everyone, form the barrier formation. Protect Tazuna-san. Don’t join the battle. To not interfere with this battle is teamwork,” Kakashi said as he stepped toward Zabuza.

“I’m honoured that I can see the Sharingan that I’ve heard about,” Zabuza said, “When I was in the hidden Mist’s assassination squad your information was in the bingo book I carried asking for your capture. It also noted that you had copied more than one thousand jutsu.”

As Zabuza spoke the entire area began to fill with mist. To be honest at this point he was wondering if they were actually going to get around to fighting. It’s great that their reputations have proceeded them but he felt more tense the longer he waited for the fight to actually start. He scowled at the creeping mist, his clothes had just started to feel less damp. His scowl naturally did nothing to quell the mist’s advance into the clearing.

“Let’s cut this chat short. I have to kill that man right away,” as soon as Zabuza spoke the team moved to protect Tazuna with Sasuke standing in front and he and Sakura on either side facing out, allowing them to also cover behind if necessary.

As part of the formation he was supposed to stay looking straight ahead and to the side so he would see if an attack came from behind Tazuna. As a result he wasn’t able to see what Kakashi was doing in his fight but he refused to watch and get unfairly reprimanded a second time. He heard a splash in the lake nearby and suddenly the mist became even thicker than it had been. He felt like he was standing in a cloud and even though he could sense the others behind him he still felt for the most part that he was alone.

From far away he heard Zabuza’s voice, “Mist concealment.”

“He disappeared,” Sakura said, her voice shaking.

“Zabuza Momochi was know for his silent killing techniques while he was in the hidden mist’s anbu,” Kakashi explained, “So don’t let your guard down.”

He felt his pulse quicken in fear. He hoped Kakashi could find Zabuza in this mist with the sharingan, but he wasn’t entirely willing to bet on it.

‘Kurama?’ he asked hesitantly.

The fox didn’t speak but warm red chakra flowed from the cage the fox was in. He would only use it as a last resort but it felt nice knowing it was there. His hands, which had been shaking, steadied as the warmth of the chakra spread. He felt less alone.

“Eight points. The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collar bone, kidney, and heart,” Zabuza’s voice came from the mist.

It was an intimidation tactic to list the vital points he himself had left exposed. Harry wasn’t sure if his nerves could take a prolonged battle like this. His breathing became heavier as he lost sight of anything besides white. Just as he was working himself up to a panic attack, a wave of chakra pushed the mist aside and he could see again. He could feel the blood lust in the air but as it wasn’t directed toward him he was able to mostly ignore it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect the three of you with my life. I won’t let anyone on my team die,” Kakashi assured them.

But he wasn’t sure he believed him because Zabuza had just landed within the centre of their formation. He felt himself reaching for the red chakra that was quick to respond but Kakashi moved faster and stabbed Zabuza in the stomach with a kunai. Water leaked from the wound and a second later Zabuza snuck up behind Kakashi, sword at the ready.

“Sensei, behind you,” he called out unsure if Kakashi already knew he was there or not.

His warning was too late and Kakahi was cut in half by the sword only to become a puddle of water. And now Kakashi was behind Zabuza again holding a kunai to his throat. The battle was progressing too quickly to fully keep up. It was fighting beyond his current level.

He felt helpless unable to do anything but watch as the two older shinobi clashed in a dazzling display of cat and mouse as each tried to outdo the other to gain the upper hand. But then Kakashi made a mistake as he jumped into the water to avoid one of Zabuza’s attacks. Zabuza pulled up a water prison jutsu that trapped Kakashi in a bubble of water but it looked like his hand was controlling the prison. A clone of Zabuza, or the real Zabuza, he couldn’t tell the difference stood on the shore facing Tazuna.

He felt his stomach drop as he pulled on the red chakra just in case. He was lucky he did as Zabuza came straight for him assuming small equalled weak.

“Hadrian,” he heard Sakura yell in warning.

He felt his mind freeze but the red chakra wasn’t just his to control and Kurama had a thousand years of battle instinct and experience to draw on. A thin sheet of chakra rose in front of him and blocked Zabuza’s kick as well as pushed him away. Once he had some distance his mind began to work again and he mentally shook himself. He needed to focus. If he kept freezing in fear he would die, and not just him, but Sasuke and Sakura too. Kurama, he knew, only had his own safety in mind.

“Everyone, get Tazuna and run,” Kakashi suddenly yelled from the water prison, “You can’t win against him.”

‘ _But you can. All you need to do is take control of my chakra. If you do there is no way that you can lose_ ,’ Kurama’s voice whispered through his mind, contradicting Kakashi.

He was very tempted to test the power of the red chakra, but as a shinobi the orders of the team leader were meant to be followed without question. He wasn’t sure what he should do. Undecided, he looked to his remaining two teammates, he would not drag them into a fight they may lose. He had the fox to keep him alive. They did not.

Sakura still stood in the same place she had been when Zabuza first broke their formation. She had frozen up way worse that he had, it was almost like she was trapped in a genjutsu. If they chose to fight she would be less than useless. He shifted his gaze to Sasuke instead. In the last fight Sasuke had not frozen at all. Though he looked scared he seemed to be getting ready to try something. His expression was slowly shifting from fear to determination.

Sasuke ran at Zabuza throwing shuriken while he went. He sighed. It appeared they would be fighting. The shuriken were easily deflected by Zabuza’s sword. He caught Sasuke by the neck as he went in for a taijutsu attack. Sasuke was thrown aside like a bag of trash and landed on the ground in a heap.

“Sasuke-kun,” Sakura yelled, finally unfreezing long enough to run over to where Sasuke was on the ground.

He joined her crouching over Sasuke. With a groan Sasuke sat up. Instead of the fear he was expecting Sasuke just looked more determined than ever to fight Zabuza. That meant they were going to need to come up with some sort of plan. There was no way they were winning on their own or by recklessly attacking as Sasuke had just proven.

“Sakura, guard Tazuna-san,” he told her in a way that left no room for argument.

Once she had taken her place in front of the drunkard, he turned to Sasuke, “Sasuke, lend me your ear for a second.”

“What do you want?” Sasuke responded rudely.

The lack of faith was annoying but not completely unexpected, “I have a plan.”

“So you want to be a part of the team now?” Sasuke asked.

At first he thought Sasuke was refusing to listen to his plan but after watching his expression he realized the question was genuine. He wondered why he felt guilty all of a sudden. He felt his cheeks warming a little. He stood by his decision to keep out of the previous battle. His involvement hadn’t been necessary but he supposed from outside it might have seemed like he had abandoned the team to die.

“I have always been part of the team, now listen to my plan,” he said using the excuse to look at Zabuza instead of his teammate as he described what he wanted to do.

The plan was really just a variation of what he had done during the bell test.

He and Sasuke moved into position but before they could put his plan into action Zabuza attacked Sasuke. He used a roundhouse kick augmented with charkra to send him flying before slamming his elbow into Sasuke’s stomach. Blood dripped from Sasuke’s mouth showing that he had some internal bleeding. He hoped it wasn’t too serious as he knew no healing jutsu. He couldn’t risk Sasuke being struck again.

He used the multi shadow clone jutsu to surround Zabuza as he helped Sasuke to his feet. Then he had his shadow clones attack Zabuza at once hoping numbers could overwhelm his skill. As expected the attack was useless but it worked to give him a distraction. He created a new clone and transformed it while he pretended to pull a giant shuriken from his bag. He tossed the giant shuriken to Sasuke.

“A shuriken won’t work on me,” Zabuza taunted.

Sasuke as per the plan threw it anyway but not at the clone. The shuriken flew past the clone at the Zabuza holding the water prison. He dodged the shuriken but that too was part of the plan and the transformation was released. His clone called up the red chakra into a rope that looked suspiciously like a tail and sent it at Zabuza. The band of chakra circled the wrist Zabuza was using to hold the water prison. It burned him where it touched his skin. The clone fell into the water but the chakra was already attached to Zabuza. The chakra began to spread over his arm and onto his exposed torso. He heard Zabuza grunt in pain even from so far away and smiled in satisfaction of a job well done.   
  
From inside the water prison Kakashi watched him where he was standing next to Sasuke with wide fearful eyes. He wasn’t sure what was so surprising, according to Mizuki all the adults who were alive ten years ago knew he had Kurama inside him. Kakashi was old enough he would have probably been one of the shinobi fighting alongside the fourth Hokage. Perhaps he was misinterpreting satisfaction for joy at causing pain? He frowned at the thought wondering if Kakashi viewed him as a monster like the rest of the village, if that was why he was so ready to believe the worst of him after the last battle. After only a few more moments of the chakra spreading and burning, Zabuza was in enough pain to lose his focus on maintaining the water prison. It popped like a bubble with the water splashing back into the lake.

He made sure Kakashi landed on his feet and then released the shadow clone that was still in the water. It disappeared in a puff of smoke and Kakashi and Zabuza were once again facing each other. He and Sasuke went over to where Sakura was waiting with Tazuna.

He watched as Kakashi mimicked Zabuza’s hand-signs using his sharingan, cancelling out his water dragon attack. The attacks colliding sent a massive wave of water crashing past the shore. The wave soaked his clothes completely. He lost sight of the battle while he worked on wringing out his pants. He hated the feeling of wet clothes.

He sensed a presence in the tree behind him. It felt dangerous but not hostile. He bent to wring out his sweater and shifted his gaze to where he thought the person would be. Sure enough he could see a shadow standing in a tree deeper in the woods.

“There’s something I would like to look into,” he whispered in Sasuke’s ear, “protect Tazuna-san and Sakura until I get back.”

Sasuke looked at him confusion clear on his face but nodded that he understood. It seemed that Sasuke at least was willing to trust him a little now that he felt Harry was willing to be a part of the team.

He jumped into the trees and made his way closer to the shadow. He saw the mask turn in his direction and knew he had been seen. As he thought the person though dangerous did not attack him but instead waited for him to get closer. He jumped through the trees until he landed across from the individual. The markings on the forehead of their mask matched the symbol on Zabuza’s headband.

They stood in silence for a few moments neither one making a move to threaten the other but still trying to find weaknesses to exploit should the encounter turn out negatively. He decided that he should begin as he was the one who approached.

“Are you here to interfere with our mission and kill Tazuna-san?” he asked choosing to be blunt.

“I am here for Zabuza,” the voice sounded younger than he would have expected.

“To kill or save him?”

Without answering the person disappeared in a swirl of wind. He didn’t know where they had gone or what it meant but felt that it didn’t bode well.

‘ _You should return to the others, even with me inside you, you are not invulnerable_.’ The fox warned him.

He hurried to comply with the warning feeling worried too. He wasn’t sure Kakshi could survive a two on one fight if it came to that. He headed back toward the clearing choosing to walk on the ground instead of jumping through the trees in the hope that his return would be less conspicuous. He arrived just in time to see the person speaking with Kakashi. At the roots of the tree Zabuza was laying dead with two senbon needles sticking out from the back of his neck.

“That mask, if I remember correctly, you must be a hunter-nin from the Village Hidden by Mist,” Kakashi said watching the person carefully.

Sasuke acknowledged his return with a small nod. He hoped his absence went unnoticed by Kakashi.

He did not want to get yelled at again for not working as a team.

The hunter-nin jumped down from the tree branch and knelt next to Zabuza’s body, “I must go dispose of the corpse. It’s a body filled with secrets.”

The person once again disappeared in a swirl of wind, this time they took the body of Zabuza with them. For a few moments no one moved.

“Our mission hasn’t ended yet. We need to take Tazuna-san to his house,” Kakashi broke the silence.

“You can all rest at my house once we get there,” the old drunk told them suddenly cheerful.

He noticed that Kakashi was wobbling in place a little and quickly hurried forward. It was a good idea because after a couple of steps the jounin seemed to collapse exhausted. He caught his sensei on his shoulder preventing him from falling to the ground.

“Thank you, Hadrian,” Kakashi said resting his weight on him.

He smiled at the jounin, “You were very impressive, sensei. It’s to be expected that you’re so tired.”

Sasuke came to assist him by letting Kakashi also lean on his shoulder. He felt for the first time since they were placed together that they were behaving like a real team.


	9. Chapter 7

The next morning he woke up while the others were still sleeping. He sat in the forest about a two minute walk from Tazuna’s house where there was a small natural clearing. He was taking the opportunity to meditate while Kakashi rested after using so much of his chakra. He was looking deep inside himself. His mind-scape was a series of interconnected storm drains one of which was blocked off by large iron bars which caged the nine-tailed fox. The cage was the furthest into his own mind that he had ever gone, beyond the cage the tunnels were dark and cold.

Kurama was asleep inside the cage leaving him with no one to talk to. He glanced into the dark wondering what might be in those tunnels. It was about time he learnt a bit more about himself anyway. With a sigh he made his way down the dark tunnel. He was walking blind so he didn’t notice when the walls began to change from plaster to stone. His first clue that something was different was the change in the sound his footsteps made. He was no longer splashing through a thin layer of water. He was walking on dry stone the sound of his footsteps echoing around him.

What felt like a couple minutes of walking later two torches lit on either side of a massive wooden door wrapped in Iron bands. An old iron lock rested below the door handle with a key inserted but left in the locked position. With a sense of anticipation he turned the key, the click of the lock echoing down the tunnel which was now illuminated by more torches. More doors appeared made of wood and iron on either side but for now his focus was on the first door.

His excitement mounted as he touched the door handle so he could pull it open. If felt like a rush of warmth the second his hand closed around the handle. The red chakra felt like the warmth from a fire, comforting but if you got to close it would burn you. In contrast the warmth emanating from behind the door was like a summer day, soft and soothing.

He pulled the door open and was immediately pulled inside. The place was a deep well of swirling gold. The power the room contained made all his body hair stand on end. It seemed to twine around him curiously. He felt it spread over and through him filling him completely until it felt like he was no longer separate from the golden light filling the space. It felt natural to him. More natural than even his own chakra felt.

He was breathless in awe of the obvious power surrounding him. It felt limitless. It felt like it could be anything he wanted as long as he knew how to ask it.

It felt like the gold swirling around him became more gentle and he was filled with happiness that didn’t seem like it was completely his. After what felt like hours he had to leave the room, but he didn’t lock the door and it felt like the golden warmth stayed with him as he rose to the surface of his mind. Now he felt that he knew where the source of his wishing was, he felt like he could call it up much easier the next time he needed it.

He opened his eyes and was shocked to find himself surrounded on all sides by vines of flowers. They had not been there when he closed his eyes. They were disconnected from the surrounding woods, too bright to have been there naturally. It made him uneasy to see what something inside him had done without his intention.

He returned to the house as fast as he could after pulling himself free from the vines that had grown around him. He arrived at the house just as Kakashi walked out.

“Hadrian, there you are,” Kakashi waved him over.

Kakashi was leaning heavily on a pair of crutches meaning he would be absolutely no help at all should they need to face an enemy again within the next week. He followed Kakashi into the woods a short ways. They stopped in the flower meadow that the power inside him had created and he had just run away from. He watched the unnatural vines from the corner of his eye half expecting them to move. They didn’t.

“The Hokage made me aware before assigning me as the leader of team seven that you were aware of the nine-tailed fox sealed within you. He failed to mention to me that you were using the demon’s chakra,” there was no question being asked so he chose to remain silent.

“I would prefer you not use such a dangerous chakra anymore, especially around Sakura and Sasuke. The chakra beast knows only hatred and wants only destruction,” he put his hand on Harry’s shoulder and squeezed, “Can you promise not to use it again?”

“Sensei, I know what Kurama did to the village, more importantly I know why he did it. Kurama hasn’t hurt me, in fact he has lent me strength when I needed it most. If I die he dies so it is in his best interest to keep me alive and safe. I trust him to do that and so far he has not broken that trust,” he reasoned.

He could see that Kakashi was unmoved but he didn’t want to give up a trump card like the red chakra. He liked Kurama and it wasn’t his fault that he attacked the village. Kurama had told him about the masked Uchiha who had controlled him. And besides that, it was the village who had hunted him in his home and then imprisoned him in the first jinchūriki. As far as he was concerned the village brought his hatred onto themselves. If it came down to it he would side with the fox, but he couldn’t tell Kakashi that. He was also concerned that if the villagers ever found out he was on speaking terms with the fox and could use his power as his own. He shuddered just thinking of what they might try to do to him. He couldn’t risk that information in the wrong hands.

He took a deep breath, “I understand. I won’t use the red chakra again unless it is to save my life or the life of one of my teammates.”

Kakashi seemed upset but accepted, “Alright, Hadrian, but just remember that if the fox does betray you, you will most likely be dead before you can regret trusting it.”

He nodded to show he understood. Throughout the conversation Kurama had notably remained silent.

***

He stood at the base of a tree panting with the effort of controlling his chakra all day. He had practised tree climbing and water walking on his own but never for so long. Sakura had already gone back to Tazuna’s house to rest, too tired to continue. It was understandable due to the fact that she had the smallest amount of chakra. It was only him and Sasuke left and they had both managed to climb their trees without using their hands. They had been doing so consistently for the last several hours.

“Do you want to go back?” he asked Sasuke who was resting his back against the base of his own tree.

Sasuke’s eyes had been closed but they now opened to glance over at him. He was also panting from the effort they had just put in to tree climbing.

“Not yet,” Sasuke said standing.

He pulled his sweater away from his chest. It felt gross after he had been exerting himself for so long. His nose crinkled in distaste at his current state. Even if Sasuke was going to keep training he desperately needed a shower. He turned to leave but stopped when his wrist was grabbed. Reacting on instinct he attempted to dislodge the hand by flipping Sasuke. However, Sasuke was also talented at taijutsu and had the benefit of multiple teachers helping him to achieve his full potential.

He grunted in pain as his back slammed onto the packed earth. A heavy weight pressed into his stomach as Sasuke held him down.

“What the hell Sasuke?” he yelled trying and failing to get up.

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said making no move to let him up.

“Then just ask, you didn’t need to attack me,” he was startled enough that he wasn’t hiding how angry he was.

He conveniently forgot that he was the first to initiate violence. Glaring up at Sasuke he could see him smirking at him. It was infuriating that Sasuke thought he was better than him. But he did win. With a sigh he went limp and waited for Sasuke to ask the question he had felt was important enough to fight him over.

“What was the red chakra you used against Zabuza?” Sasuke asked him, watching his face closely.

His eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t even sure he was allowed to answer due to the third Hokage making it against the law to speak of it. But they were not in the village hidden by leaves right now. No one would know if he broke that law. Also, who apart from him would have the right to tell anyone about the fox. It was his secret. On the other side, he also knew Kurama had a particularly antagonistic past with the Uchiha clan. Twice they had controlled him against his will. Sasuke, despite not having been the Uchiha that captured and controlled Kurama, was still of the same clan. If he ever unlocked the sharingan he would have that same power to control Kurama against his will. He felt himself pale at the realization that Kakashi also had that ability but he did have to wonder if he had enough mastery over his stolen eye to control Kurama. He doubted it, Kurama was very strong.

He didn’t know what to do, ‘Kurama?’

‘ _Do you trust Sasuke Uchiha_?’ Kurama asked.

‘I don’t know, I can’t trust anyone completely, but as far as Sasuke is concerned I don’t distrust him.’

‘ _Then tell him only if you are prepared to deal with the consequences when or if he breaks your trust_ ,’ the fox reasoned.

“Do you know what a jinchūriki is Sasuke?” he asked.

“No,” Sasuke replied.

He seemed upset that Harry knew something he didn’t if his scowl was anything to go by. Harry smiled at finally knowing something the stuck up prodigy he was trying to be friendly with didn’t. It was a good feeling. He decided not to tell Sasuke outright, but make him work for the answer.

“It is what I am, and also the source of the red chakra,” he smiled to Sasuke, “Figure the rest out on your own.”

“Why won’t you just tell me?” Sasuke asked while griding his teeth.

“Because the trust I have in you as a teammate is different than the trust I have in you as a person. This is personal, it has nothing to do with the team. I gave you an answer, what you do with it is your business,” he told Sasuke, “Let me up.”

Sasuke finally got off of him, “I’m going to find out what you are.”

Sasuke began walking back toward Tazuna’s house. He sighed wondering if he had made the right choice.

‘ _Too late now_ ,’ Kurama helpfully advised.

***

A couple days later Harry couldn’t sleep. His dreams were plagued by the memories of villagers’ hatred. It was clear his subconscious was nervous about the hint he had divulged to Sasuke.

He wandered out of the house in the pre-dawn light hoping to clear his mind. He wandered through the woods planning to go back to the trees where he had been training his stamina. Climbing the trees had become too easy. It was like second nature to him now to control his chakra and send it to various parts of his body.

As he approached the area, he noticed a person picking herbs. Intrigued he approached them hoping to assuage his curiosity. He made sure to rustle the leaves nearby on his approach so he wouldn’t startle the person. He had no idea how they would react to being surprised but he knew no one reacted well to being sneaked up on. It was better not to risk it. As he got close to the clearing they looked up and saw him.

“Who are you? Why are you picking those plants?” he asked keeping his tone light, he didn’t want the person to get defensive.

“These herbs help to heal injuries and cure illness,” he recognized the voice from the day they arrived in wave.

He wasn’t sure how he should proceed. On the one hand if he killed them now he wouldn’t need to worry about them later but he wasn’t sure he could kill an unarmed person. Killing another in battle was one thing but killing those who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight back was completely different. His conscience dictated that he wait to see if this person would fight him. He kept his guard up but other than a slight tensing of his muscles showed no outward sign that he had recognized them. It was also the safer option because he had no idea if he would win a fight against the person.

“Would you like some help?” he asked smiling innocently.

The person’s eyes narrowed for a moment before his smile was returned, “I would appreciate your help. Thank you.”

He looked in the basket to see what the plants looked like. He glanced around the area and saw that the herb was plentiful, growing everywhere. He wasn’t stupid enough to turn his back on an enemy so he made sure he was facing them. He collected herbs a few feet away with the basket in easy reach for both of them. They collected the plants in silence for a few minutes until the basket was full.

“Can I ask what your name is?” he said before the person could leave.

“My name is Haku,” the boy said.

“It’s nice to meet you Haku, my name is Hadrian,” he told him smiling again, “Why were you out gathering herbs so early, do they need to be picked in the morning?”

Haku deflected the question with one of his own, “What are you doing out here so early in the morning? Most boys your age would still be sleeping.”

“I was clearing my head,” he decided to play along, “I’ve been training quite hard recently and I find that walking can be relaxing.”

“Training? Are you a shinobi then?” he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

His smile sharpened a little, “You know I am, as I know you are.”

Haku’s eyes narrowed but he bowed his head in acknowledgement. They stood silently sizing each other up but neither making any hostile moves. The tension in the air was thick and cloying. At this rate they would end up fighting and he wasn’t overly fond of the idea. There was a time and place, this wasn’t either.

“I would rather not fight if I don’t have to,” he said with a sigh, “Do I have to?”

Haku relaxed marginally, “Can you answer one last question for me?”

He nodded his head. He hoped this meant they weren’t going to need to fight right now.

“I wonder if you are training for yourself or someone else. Do you have someone that is important to you?” Haku asked.

He thought about the question. He trained to protect himself from the villagers. To gain the power to stop others from hurting him. He was selfish and he knew it. He was not ashamed to put himself first. Perhaps in a different life he might have had someone he was willing to fight for, but that was not this life. No one was more precious to him than he was.

“A person is able to become truly strong when they wish to protect someone that they cherish,” Haku told him, apparently he had taken too long to answer.

“Having someone to protect can indeed make you stronger, but not protecting yourself can put you into an early grave,” he countered.

“That is an interesting perspective,” Haku replied but he could tell that he didn’t agree.

“Interesting but accurate. If you don’t live for yourself, you will die,” he warned him.

Haku seemed disappointed as he turned to leave the clearing, “Let’s meet again somewhere.”

“I would rather not,” he said watching Haku walk away.

He felt a presence coming up behind him and turned to see Sasuke enter the clearing, “What are you doing here?”

“Did you forget about training?” Sasuke said trying to hide his relief at finding him.

It was clear that Sasuke had come looking for him. It was sweet. It was also the first time anyone besides Iruka-sensei had bothered to come looking for him. He felt a little warmth inside and had to fight the smile that wanted to stretch across his face.

“Wow, Sasuke, it’s almost like you care,” he said raising an eyebrow.

“Idiot,” Sasuke said leading him back toward the clearing so they could train some more.

***

It had been a couple of days and Kakashi was finally ready to accompany Tazuna to the bridge with them. They would all be protecting Tazuna while helping out with building the bridge because all of Tazuna’s workers had quit the day before. The problem was that he had overdone it with his training and pushed himself a little too far. He could barely wait until he got under the blankets of his futon before he fell asleep.

So the others had left him behind that morning to let him rest for the day. It rankled him, but they had left a message for him to meet them when he woke up so he wasn’t too upset. They probably thought they were being nice and considerate. But he still scowled as he ate his breakfast. He didn’t like being left behind because it hurt.

“Why are you trying so hard? You’re going to die even if you train. You can’t beat Gatoh’s men. Weak people will always lose against strong people,” Inari said from across the table.

Inari’s eyes were red as though he had only just stopped crying before he entered the kitchen. It was honestly pathetic. He was feeling kind of insulted at the insinuation that he was weak from such a snivelling crybaby.

“I’m nothing like you,” he told the boy coldly.

“Shut up! It pisses me off when I watch you. You don’t know anything about this country. I’m different from someone like you, you don’t know what real pain is,” Inari yelled.

‘How annoying.’ If it bothered him so much he should just stop watching. He knew pain. He had suffered more than anyone. Inari had no right to speak to him like he was.

“Is that why you spend all your time crying like the main character of your very own tragedy? An idiot like you can keep on crying, it will mean nothing to me. Nor will stop me from defeating Gatoh and his men,” he told him, “You’re just a worthless crybaby.”

He stood to leave the room. He didn’t have time to sit there and coddle someone unwilling to help themselves. Change was hard and it required the person changing to put in the work. They needed to make sacrifices. When the villagers attacked and hurt him, he went to the academy to become a shinobi. When the teachers refused to help him learn, he went to the library. He researched and trained on his own until he was strong enough to become a genin. He did it all by himself relying on no one to help him because no one had offered to help him.

He left the house and jumped into the trees heading for the bridge. He ran a little faster than he needed to to work off the anger bubbling beneath his skin.

He was only a few minutes away though when he saw the mutilated corpse of a wild boar. Immediately he got an uneasy feeling. He landed in the clearing and saw that the marks were left by swords. Looking in the nearby trees he could see more sword markings. He turned around and rushed back to the house just to be sure there was no danger. Tazuna had hired them to protect him and by extension his family as their deaths would certainly harm him enough to prevent the completion of the bridge.

It was lucky he had decided to come back. When he arrived at the house Tsunami, Tazuna’s daughter, was tied up between a couple of mean looking thugs while Inari tried to grow a spine and stop them. He watched from the trees to see what Inari might accomplish now he was making an effort to change. The first steps were always the most important.

As expected he failed miserably to actually do anything to prevent his mother’s kidnapping. He would have been cut to pieces before a minute had past. He had to act himself to prevent their deaths. He broke from the cover of the trees and cast a substitution jutsu on Inari to get him out of the way. He also snatched Tsunami out of the way while the thugs were distracted and took her to where Inari was.

“Sorry I’m late, but a hero usually arrives late in the stories,” he said and immediately regretted opening his mouth, it sounded way lamer out loud than it had in his head.

He winced as he turned to face the thugs. The thugs weren’t trained as shinobi so dispatching them would be easy for him.

“You’re one of the incompetent ninja that Tazuna hired,” the thug said with a grin not taking him seriously.

He raised his eyebrow at them because, incompetent? They had won every fight against Gatoh and his men they had faced so far. He sighed at having the worst luck. He was going to be fighting a pair of idiots while the others were probably facing Zabuza and Haku or some other powerful shinobi they hadn’t encountered yet. He was losing out on valuble real world combat experience.

He decided that the same trick that worked on Zabuza would work on the foolish thugs. He transformed to clones into shuriken and threw them at the attacking thugs. Once they had dodged, the weapons returned to clones. The thugs naturally felt the need to taunt him but he tuned them out, they weren’t worth listening to.

A few moments later the clones attacked the goons from behind knocking them both out instantly. He released the clones and slit the throats of the thugs so they wouldn’t be able to wake up and attack them again. He turned to leave his job here finished.

“My dad,” Inari began then fell silent.

It was annoying but he made a sound to signal him to continue, “He said he would protect me and the people of this country. He was a liar, there’s no such thing as a hero. You’re a ninja so you’re different.”

He wasn’t exactly sure what the point Inari was trying to make was but he figured he had to say something or he would never get to leave.

“You’re right. I am different. Because I am a shinobi I have skills civilians don’t. But you’re wrong about heroes, Inari. There are heroes but eventually every hero comes across an enemy they can’t win against. As the next generation it is our duty to surpass them and defeat the enemy that they could not. In doing so we will then become the heroes to lead the next generation. On and on it will go in an endless cycle as each generation grows stronger than the one that came before it. Do you want to be a hero Inari? Do you want to surpass your father? Because you can,” he told Inari.

“How?” Inari asked him tentatively.

He had no idea what Inari wanted from him, but he had to come up with something. He thought about what could be most useful to him if there was a fight on the bridge. If a fight happened it was almost guaranteed Gatoh would make an appearance.

“Rally the villagers and take them to the bridge,” he advised, “If they want their country back, they should fight for it.”

“What about you? What will you do?” Inari asked him with a strange look on his face he had only seen on his minion Konohamaru’s face before.

“I’ll be helping my teammates,” he replied taking the opportunity to leave.


	10. Chapter 8

When he arrived at the bridge he paused to examine the situation. His first observation was that he would be fighting in damp clothes which was never fun. The second observation was that Sasuke was trapped in a kekkei genkai used by Haku. The third observation was that Kakashi was unable to assist him due to Zabuza stopping him. And the final observation was of Sakura protecting Tazuna but not currently being attacked. He dismissed her as unimportant. 

As soon as he thought it she began moving toward Sasuke. He should have know she would leap to Sasuke’s rescue even if it endangered the mission. He pulled a kunai from his weapon pouch ready in case Tazuna was attacked while Sakura was making a fool of herself. She threw a kunai at the crystal mirrors trying to give Sasuke a weapon but her yell alerted Haku who was then able to catch it. He wondered what had happened before he arrived for Sasuke not to have his own kunai. He could find out later, for now he threw a shuriken at Haku hitting his mask and knocking him out of the jutsu.

Taking his chance he ran toward the dome intent on getting Sasuke out. He ran between two of the mirrors and grabbed Sasuke’s arm so he could pull him out.

“What are you doing, Hadrian? Now you’re trapped in there too,” Sakura yelled, the fact she thought he was an idiot was implied.

He felt like an idiot though. He knew better than to act without thinking. He knew better than to jump into an unknown jutsu when he didn’t know how it worked. But he had done it anyway. He had behaved foolishly because he had seen what he thought was an opening to help his teammate. He groaned into his hands, this is why he said forgetting to protect yourself would only result in an early grave. Thinking of others only made your own actions more reckless.

Haku stood up and entered the ice mirrors again but this time both he and Sasuke were trapped inside.

“I’ll just have to destroy the mirror,” Sasuke said standing.

It seemed like a good idea in theory but he wasn’t sure ice created by a kekkei genkai would be that easy to break. Sasuke brought his hands together and began forming hand-signs. He brought one of his hands to his mouth and blew out a stream of fire. It bathed the mirrors in a searing heat he could feel from where he stood behind Sasuke. But the mirrors were colder than the fire was hot and when the jutsu ended the mirrors were completely unscathed.

“It won’t melt with such weak fire,” Haku taunted calmly, throwing senbon out of the mirrors. 

He seemed to be in every mirror at once and the attack came from every direction. He tried to dodge as many as he could but it was almost impossible to avoid even one senbon needle. He felt the tearing at his skin when the needles scratched shallow wounds everywhere. Almost as soon as the wounds opened they were closing again. He only had time to feel the sting and the first trickle of blood before the wounds were gone. His clothes however were not so lucky and holes were ripped open in several places.

“Where is he attacking from?” he asked Sasuke looking at all the mirrors, “Are they all clones?”

Sasuke didn’t answer him. He was too focused on his own thoughts and strategies. With a shrug he decided to test his theory. He produced several shadow clones and sent them to attack all of the mirrors.

Not one clone reached a mirror. He took in the information they sent as they were released. It seemed that the attack was indeed coming from every direction but not at exactly the same time. 

“This is a travelling technique that utilizes mirror reflections that reflect only me,” Haku kindly decided to answer his earlier question, “From my speed, you two look like you’re standing still.”

That made getting out that much harder. If Haku was able to move that quickly there was no way that they could counter him. His first thought was of Kurama. He doubted that Haku’s mirrors were stronger than the red chakra but he had promised to only use it as a last resort. He had to think of something else. He hoped he could come up with something that would work. He glanced at Sasuke who was standing next to him squinting at the mirrors.

“Sasuke-kun, don’t lose to a guy like him,” Sakura yelled from outside the mirrors.

Her yelling broke his concentration. Next to him he heard Sasuke tsk and knew it was the same for him. She must have been reprimanded though as she didn’t yell at Sasuke again. Unable to think of anything else he sent shadow clones to attack the mirrors again. He wasn’t sure how much chakra Haku’s technique used but when it came to stamina he was very hard to beat. As his clones were destroyed more were already there to take their place. It had the added benefit of providing him and Sasuke with a somewhat effective shield. The few senbon that slipped past his wall of clones were easy to dodge.

He kept up the pace for several minutes. As he sent clone after clone out to attack the mirrors. Sasuke began kicking up water and watching it fall with extreme concentration. He was curious but thought it was better not to ask and draw Haku’s attention to what his teammate was doing. He would tell him when he was ready to put a plan into action.

After a few more minutes Sasuke randomly sent the same jutsu he had used earlier toward blank space, or at least he thought it was blank space. As he received feedback from his destroyed clones he realized that when Sasuke performed his jutsu the attacks on his clones were interrupted for a moment. 

“Can you see him?” he asked Sasuke without slowing down his clone production.

“Not yet, almost,” Sasuke responded still concentrating on the water droplets in the air.

Sasuke sent the justu into the air again. Once again there was a moment’s pause in his clones being destroyed. Then he noticed that the reflection now had a burnt patch on his clothes. He smiled. Sasuke’s jutsu had almost hit him.

He kept up the barrage of clones though he was beginning to feel the strain on his chakra. Shadow clones used up large amounts of chakra. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to outlast Haku after all. He would just have to send out clones for as long as he could.

“Hadrian run,” Sasuke finally seemed to have figured something out, “Get out of here and attack from the outside.”

“Okay,” he nodded.

He started running as soon as he finished speaking. As he got close to the wall of mirrors he felt the heat from Sasuke’s blazing fireball jutsu targeting the air next to him. But Haku must have slipped past the jutsu because he was then knocked back into the centre of the mirrors. He looked to his side and saw that Sasuke had a senbon sticking out of his shoulder. Sasuke may be able to see Haku but his own techniques were not fast enough to hit him.

He made the hand signs to create more shadow clones when he suddenly realized that he had overlooked something vital. He concentrated on forming his clones outside the ice mirrors and completed the hand signs. No clones formed outside the dome. That meant that the mirrors somehow didn’t let his chakra out. He was disappointed but he still had his stamina to rely on. 

“That was good. Let’s do it again,” he looked at Sasuke like he was crazy, that had been an utter failure, “Trust me.”

With a sigh he decided to trust Sasuke. He only hoped Sasuke would succeed quickly because Haku’s attacks were painful and didn’t heal as quickly as the shallow scratches made by the senbon needles. He ran toward the wall of mirrors and heard Sasuke’s footsteps head in another direction. He heard Sasuke yell just before several senbon needles stabbed him in the back. He was not going to try this again when his clones had been working better.

From outside the dome he heard Sakura scream. He had never heard a scream filled with so much fear. It was chilling. He needed to get out of mirrors quickly. He ran toward the mirrors again but dodged toward another opening when his instincts warned him of danger. He did this two more times before senbon managed to stab him in the chest. He wheezed as he bent over. His lung wasn’t punctured but he could feel the tip of one of the needles scraping against his lung every time he breathed in.

“It’s impossible to get out of here. I can assure you of that,” Haku said watching from the safety of the mirror.

He reached up to pull out the offending senbon needle but more were thrown into his arm. He cried out dropping to his knees. It was the most pain he had felt in a long time. His wounds weren’t healing because of the needles that were holding the wounds open.

“I will put an end to this now,” Haku told them.

More senbon were thrown in their direction but Sasuke had picked one up and was able to deflect the others. He took advantage of the opportunity to pull out the senbon threatening his lung and pull out as many of the others as he could reach. The needles in his back were mostly beyond his reach. Once the needles were out the wounds finally began to heal. It was slower than the scratches had healed but he knew they would be closed within a minute or two. 

He watched as Sasuke deflected volleys of senbon rarely letting one hit him. It was impressive. He knew if he tried to interfere he would only make the situation worse because he could not see Haku’s movements the way Sasuke could. If he interfered he would be fighting blind and that could hurt Sasuke’s chances of countering.

He watched as Sasuke seemed to get better at reading Haku as the fight progressed. He was so focused on being a spectator to the battle that he didn’t notice the attack meant for him until Sasuke had picked him up by his waist. He was so shocked that he was apparently easy to carry around that his brain froze for a moment. His eyes widened as he felt his face redden, he had never felt so small. This was by far the worst battle he had ever been a part of.

“Put me down,” he cringed at how small his voice sounded.

Sasuke dropped him on the ground in a graceless heap. When he looked up to glare, he was once again surprised. Sasuke’s eyes were red. They looked like an incomplete version of Kakashi’s sharingan. He felt the fox’s anxiety seeping out of the cage infecting him. When Sasuke had no sharingan him finding out about Kurama had been safe, now there was the potential that Sasuke could use his sharingan to hurt them.

He stood up ready to flee as his panic grew. And almost immediately Sasuke’s back was in front of him. He heard dull thunks as the senbon needles pierced through his skin. Then the body in front of him fell to the ground. It was unmoving like a corpse.

He stood there unable to move or comprehend what had just happened. 

All his life people were cruel. People went out of their way to hurt him, demean him, and deny him. Still, this boy that he knew had lofty ambitions and had always had personality issues was on the ground, possibly dead, because he tried to save him. Sasuke had risked his chance at revenge for his sake despite everything because they were teammates. He suddenly felt a rush of warm affection for Sasuke. His eyes burned as his vision went blurry and for the first time in seven years Hadrian let his tears fall. He promised himself that if they made it out of this fight, if Sasuke was somehow not dead, he would try once more to be friends. What else could he do when he was willing to die for him?

He dropped to his knees trying to feel for a pulse but there were too many needles sticking out of Sasuke. He felt himself reaching for the red chakra but Kakashi had warned him after the last fight not to use it. If he used it now Kakashi would tell the Hokage and things might become more difficult for him in the village. It was especially troubling given Sasuke’s newly awakened sharingan, though he was fairly certain Sasuke would not use it to hurt them if he survived this battle. He instead reached for the deep pool of gold in the depths of his being. 

The door was there waiting and unlocked. He threw it open. He felt the ebb and flow of that brilliant power around him.

‘Please,’ he begged it.

There was no verbal response but the gold surged around him and he knew he needed only to think about what he wanted and it would be done.

What he wanted more than anything was for the mirrors to, “Shatter.”

He felt the gold rush through him filling his skin. When he opened his eyes his skin looked almost luminescent. He felt the power release from inside him like a dam giving way to the weight of the water it held back. It was amazing, wondrous and awe inspiring. 

In perfect synchronization every mirror shattered. Haku was thrown through the air into the railing at the side of the bridge. Around him ice dust fell through the air sparkling in the light that managed to get through the fog. He felt his power catch on some of the larger shards of ice. He saw them freeze in the air then rotate so that their sharpest points were aimed at Haku who was slowly climbing to his feet.

“Why have you stopped?” Haku asked him taking off his mask, “You can’t defeat me like that.”

He pulled on his power to bring the shards of ice closer. He examined Haku who seemed to want to die. He and Haku had fought, Haku lost. In this circumstance he knew he could kill him without guilt as an enemy shinobi he had defeated. He hadn’t felt anything when he had killed those thugs after all. Even Inari hadn’t cared that he had killed them.

“I see,” he said pulling the shards closer still, “I told you so.”

He watched Haku’s eyes widen as he released the shards. They flew toward Haku as fast as the senbon needles had flown at him. The shards embedded themselves into as many of Haku’s vital organs as possible. He had told him, if you don’t live for yourself, you will die. A pity he didn’t listen. Haku fell to the ground blood pooling around his body. He felt regret that things ended this way, but no regret at killing Haku.

Now that his battle with Haku was over he felt the tension alleviate from his body. As the adrenaline vanished he also felt the golden power retreat back into the room in his mind but this time there was no door. He could feel it waiting there, ready to be called. Yet, somehow he felt that it would not come if he were call it on a whim. This power needed purpose.

He had won his battle but Kakashi was still facing Zabuza. He hurried closer to where they were so he could watch. He was too late. Kakashi’s hand had gone right through Zabuza’s chest. The moment he died the mist that had clung to everything disappeared. Zabuza’s corpse fell to the ground in a pile of limbs as Kakashi removed his arm.

He made to move toward Kakashi when Sakura’s voice distracted him.

“Hadrian, where’s Sasuke?” she asked looking panicked as she ran closer and didn’t see him.

He glanced at her before pointing toward Sasuke. If he was dead there was nothing they could do so it was better to leave him until everything was resolved. If he was merely in a near death state like Zabuza had been when Haku attacked him, then there was still nothing he could do at the moment and he would be better served waiting until everything was resolved. He watched Sakura’s eyes follow his finger to Sasuke’s body. With a cry she and Tazuna hurried over to the body. After a short time he could hear her crying.

Kakashi had also followed his finger but his gaze instead landed on Haku’s body.

“Hadrian, what did you do?” Kakashi had the same look he had when they were speaking about Kurama.

“I killed an enemy in battle,” he told his sensei, “I did not use the red chakra to do it.”

He was tired of Kakashi always assuming the worst of him. He couldn’t win.

“Kakashi-sensei, do you have something against me, personally?” he asked stopping next to Kakashi.

He made sure he kept his voice low enough that the others would not accidentally overhear them. He should have waited until they were done with the mission for the day to ask but he felt more bothered by it than usual.

Kakashi sighed, “I’m sorry, Hadrian. It has nothing to do with you. You are my student and I care about you.”

“But?” 

“But I can’t forgive your mother for what she did to my sensei.”

Of all the answers he could have imagined. Anything to do with his parents would not have been anywhere on the list.

“What?” he asked confused.

Anger crept into Kakashi’s voice as he seemed to remember, “Your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, was the jinchūriki of the nine-tailed fox before you. When you were born the seal weakened allowing the fox to attack the village. As a female jinchūriki she knew the seal would weaken as she gave birth but she and my sensei wanted to start a family together so they were willing to take the risk. But as it turns out you weren’t even his and they both died in the attack so the fox could be sealed into you,” Kakashi said with disgust, “You look just like her, except the hair I have no idea where the hair is from.”

“I never knew her, and Kurama has never spoken of her,” he told his sensei through narrowed eyes, “Do I really look like a male version of my mother?”

“No, you look just like her,” Kakashi defended himself, “And I told you it has nothing to do with you. You are my student and I will do everything in my power to protect and train you.”

“But you’ll never like me,” his voice was cold.

You can’t control the things you feel. He knew this because he had tried. He had tried so hard for years to stop hurting, to be happy, to forgive the villagers; but he had never succeeded, not once. He could hide his feelings and he could act against them. He had spent years at the academy smiling despite the agony he truly felt inside. Being nice to people who scorned him. Kakashi could do the same if he truly tried.

“You’ve been defeated, I’m disappointed Zabuza,” a short man said while he stood in front of an army of thugs. 

The man was directing his statement to Zabuza’s corpse. He and Kakashi both shifted their attention to the new arrivals. He wasn’t sure how he had missed them all climbing onto the end of the bridge but he wasn’t worried about the thugs. They were simple to defeat, as the two he had encountered earlier proved. He doubted Gatoh had any more jounin within his group. He also doubted Gatoh could fight on his own, he just wasn’t built for it. 

He glanced at Kakashi waiting for him to decide what they would do. Kakashi glanced at Haku’s body and then at him. He seemed to come to some sort of decision. 

“If you cut off the head,” Kakahi began.

“The body dies,” he finished pulling out a kunai from his weapon pouch.

He would never trust Kakashi completely but he had been honest with him. He had never denied him training while providing it to the others. He would trust him as his teacher but outside of training or missions he would make sure to avoid Kakashi because he knew Kakashi would not be there for him outside of his designated role.

He followed Kakashi, running toward the crowd of thugs that Gatoh had just ran to hide behind when he felt their intent. Kakashi reached the thugs first and cut down any of the goons who had the misfortune to be standing near him. He used his small size to slip through the opening Kakashi had created. Gatoh hadn’t gotten far as the goons weren’t moving to let him through easily. In fact, they had begun to panic as Kakashi carved a chunk out of their number. He reached Gatoh easily and opened his throat with the kunai in his hand. 

He watched the body fall to the ground as he and Kakashi retreated. He had killed four people during this mission. He felt more guilty about the rabbit he had killed a week ago than he did about any of the others he had killed. He felt he might have been guilty about Haku had he not wanted to die. How could he feel guilty about giving him what he asked for?

They waited to see what the thugs were planning to do now their financial backer was dead.

“Hadrian,” Sakura called from behind them.

He was surprised she was done crying so quickly.

“Sasuke-kun is alive,” she yelled happily.

He turned to glance at them and saw that Sasuke was standing next to her. He smiled at them and began walking over. He didn’t worry about the thugs at his back. Kakashi was between them and him. The henchmen began complaining about Gatoh’s death and threatening to pillage the Land of Waves in retribution. He got ready to fight them as they started running forward but an arrow landed between him and them. He smiled and turned back toward the others. Behind them Inari stood at the head of a group of furious villagers. It seemed with Gatoh dead they had finally found their courage.

The thugs had paused but there was still a chance that they were stronger than the villagers. He created shadow clones to remind them the villagers were not alone. Kakashi copied him and did the same adding more shadow clones. It was petty of him. The addition of the clones was enough to scare the thugs into running. They quickly trampled each other for the chance to get on the boat first. He imagined they would be sailing as far away as they could get. Now all they needed to do was finish the bridge and they could go back to the hidden leaf with a successful mission.

***

The bridge took another month to finish building and it was finally time to leave. He wasn’t particularly happy to go back to the hidden leaf but he felt he was done with the Land of Waves. Inari had become oddly attached to him despite the fact he couldn’t actually remember being nice to him. It was exhausting constantly needing to smile and be friendly. The whole country credited him with their freedom. He wasn’t complaining but really he hadn’t actually done much. Still, it never hurt to gather minions, he might need something built for him someday and Tazuna was a great builder. Inari probably would be too, one day.

He smiled smugly up at the bridge as they left. In big giant letters it stated the name of the bridge across a large archway. The bridge they helped build was now named the Great Hadrian Bridge.


	11. Chapter 9

He had been back in the Village Hidden by Leaves for a week. Team seven had been doing only easy D rank missions after their C rank mission turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. As usual they would all meet at the bridge near the training grounds to wait for Kakashi to arrive, he would be late, and as usual, provide a stupid excuse. However, because they were only doing D rank missions he had been sending a clone to the Library to study more advanced theory concerning chakra manipulation. He was considering learning his element affinity once he had saved enough to purchase some chakra paper. It was unfortunately very expensive and the shops that sold it would likely charge him more. Ever since he had graduated the allowance he had received from the village for living expenses had been stopped. He was now relying solely on what he could make as a genin shinobi. Given that he had only been doing D rank missions He wasn’t making enough to maintain himself fully. He had been dipping into his savings account but even that was lower than he was comfortable with.

He had hoped that after they had proved themselves by successfully completing a C rank mission that they would have more C rank mission when they returned. His hopes meant nothing. He really needed harder missions soon so that he could make a little more money to support himself or he would be in serious financial distress. A week was long enough to rest. They had proved they were capable of handling more difficult missions while they were in the Land of Waves. That was at least a B rank mission probably higher. He had a suspicion that the one holding them back was Sakura who was the weakest member of the team. She had good chakra control and the knowledge to use it effectively but she lacked power, strength, and stamina. Quite frankly she dragged them all down. He could only be thankful that what missions they did complete were all successful.

He was walking back to the mission room in the academy after their most recent mission with the others when he spotted a bird flying in circles above them. He knew that the bird was likely a message sent by the Hokage but had no idea what it could mean. He could see Kakashi staring at the bird and knew that he understood what it meant.

“I have to go submit the mission reports now,” Kakashi said using the body flicker technique to leave.

He scowled at the spot where he had been. He was going to ask what the bird meant and now he would be unable to. He should go to the library and see if there were any books on bird messages used by the hidden leaf.

“Sasuke, how about we work on strengthening our teamwork?” Sakura asked nervously with a blush on her face.

She was rubbing her hands together while looking at the ground in a way she probably felt was demure. He couldn’t help but snort at her ploys to get Sasuke alone. She sent a glare in his direction when she heard it. It would definitely backfire on her as there were three people on their team. Also, Sasuke tended to be more annoyed by his fangirls than interested in them. As long as Sakura insisted on being a fangirl she would never win Sasuke for herself only drive him further and further away.

“If you have time to mind me, go practise a technique or two. To be honest, your abilities are the lowest on the team,” it was unexpectedly harsh when someone said what they had all been thinking aloud.

Poor, pathetic Sakura. It looked like her heart was being crushed into tiny pieces with every word Sasuke spoke. He felt the need, for the sake of their teamwork, to assist her in her time of need.

“Excellent point Sasuke,” he said, “I would be happy to go to the Library with you, Sakura. I’ve been wanting to research something interesting recently. We can all go as a team.”

Sakura was still depressed about Sasuke’s rejection but still managed to glare at him again. Sasuke just nodded his assent and started walking in the general direction of the library. He fell in to step beside Sasuke.

He glanced over his shoulder at Sakura, “Your choice.”

“I’m coming,” she huffed grudgingly after a breif pause.

She caught up with them quickly taking the place at Sasuke’s other side. He wanted to know how someone could be so persistent in trying to gain the affection of someone who never wasted an opportunity to turn them down. Sasuke wasn’t even nice about his constant rejections and still the fangirls kept on squealing.

They had to walk across the village to get to the Library from where they currently were. They had only been walking for two minutes but the silence was full of tension mostly caused by Sakura’s pouting. He was almost tempted to slip back into his prankster persona and challenge them to a race just so he could run away and leave them to deal with their issues alone. Sakura’s crush had nothing to do with him apart from the inconvenience it caused him.

“That hurt, brat,” a loud voice suddenly filled the silence.

He looked at the source and saw a guy wearing a cat suit. Cat Suit was holding his minion up by his scarf. He could tell that his minion was scared. He could pretend he didn’t notice the situation. Sasuke and Sakura hadn’t reacted to the older boy at all. But Konohamaru had been his minion since the day after he graduated. His very first minion. It would be bad form not to interfere. He would hate to lose Konohamaru’s trust and admiration, though much like with Inari he had no idea how he had earned it in the first place.

With a sigh and a shrug he veered left toward his imperilled minion, “Konohamaru.”

Sasuke and Sakura stopped walking but didn’t follow him right away.

“Stop it. We’re going to get scolded later,” a blond girl said without any sort of force behind the words.

She spoke like she just wanted to be able to say she had tried to stop him, not like she actually wanted stop him. As he got closer he felt Kurama stir inside him. He felt his curiosity peak. If Kurama was reacting at least one of them had to be interesting. Looking closer at their headbands he saw that the two shinobi were from the Village Hidden by Sand. It was rare to see foreign shinobi in the village.

“But I want to play around before some noisy people come,” Cat Suit hadn’t loosened his grip at all, “You’re very energetic kid.”

He was proud to see that Konohamaru was struggling to get free but it was troubling how little success he was having with the endeavour. His kicks didn’t seem to even register with the brute. He had been using a clone to help Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon to train recently when he could spare one. It was disheartening to know that Konohamaru still had so far to go before he could be useful to him. Next time they trained he would definitely focus on how to escape enemy capture.

It was about time he stepped in since no one seemed to have heard him call Konohamaru’s name.

“Too late. If you do not release my,” he felt he shouldn’t say minion aloud if they weren’t alone, “friendly acquaintance. I’m afraid I will have to notify the proper authorities of your deplorable behaviour toward the Hokage’s grandson.”

Name dropping was never a bad thing if it could increase the chances of a situation ending smoothly. Hopefully, knowing who they were attacking would help convince them that it was a bad idea to continue. If they left Konohamaru alone he would let them get continue with their business unimpeded. Unfortunately, he was dealing with an imbecile.

“Are you threatening me,” Cat Suit asked aggressively, but he did note that his hand did loosen a little on Konohamaru’s scarf.

“Not at all. I am merely making you aware of your situation,” he smiled, “You can of course continue to bully the boy, but I do have to wonder, is attacking the Hokage’s grandson in front of multiple witnesses worth jeopardizing what you are doing here?”

“You piss me off. I hate short people anyway. And you’re so impertinent for someone younger than me. It makes me want to break you,” Cat Suit said trying to be menacing.

He wasn’t intimidated but before he could respond the girl sighed, “I’m not going to be responsible for what you do.”

She at least seemed to have a brain but lacked a back bone. She excused herself from the situation but made no attempt to stop her teammate’s foolishness.

Cat Suit smiled but it was ugly, “I’ll take care of this shorty first, then I’ll deal with you.”

Cat Suit pulled his arm back to punch Konohamaru in the face. He sensed movement behind him and leaned to the right just in time to be missed as a rock thrown by Sasuke went flying past his ear. He would need to speak to Sasuke later about endangering him in order to defend him.

“Thank-you Sasuke for your assistance in saving my mi-friendly acquaintance,” he said without looking back, he could feel Sasuke come to a stop just behind his right shoulder, “Teammates should back each other up, after all.”

He directed his second comment at the blond who scowled but remained silent. She had already denied responsibility so it would have looked bad for her to suddenly decide to interfere. That made her a safe easy target for any insults he might use.

Sasuke spoke to Cat Suit, “What do you think you’re doing in another’s village?”

“Another kid that pisses me off,” Cat Suit said through gritted teeth as he cradled his hand to his chest. Knowing how skilled Sasuke was his hand was probably broken.

“Why don’t we just say that everyone in the Village pisses you off and call it a day,” he offered reasonably.

Konohamaru had run over to him the instant he was free with that odd look he sometimes got. It made him uncomfortable but as the grandson of the third Hokage he couldn’t afford to let such a great connection slip through his fingers just because he was awkward. He squeezed Konohamaru’s shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way. It felt unnatural to him but Konohamaru was smiling so he would assume that it worked.

“Get lost,” Sasuke affirmed.

Rather than take their kindly given advice, Cat Suit went for the bandage covered bundle he was carrying on his back. Based on the blond’s shocked reaction he was going to actually attack them with a jutsu. He hadn’t believed it possible for anyone to actually be so stupid. When in a foreign shinobi village, even if it is allied with your own village, you do not attack the village’s children with jutsu. Every jutsu is harmful to the opponent, some more so than others. What Cat Suit was about to do could be considered by shinobi law an act of war. Simply put, he was completely flabbergasted by the development and was recalculating the best way to respond taking the boy’s idiocy into account.

“Kankuro, stop,” a short red-headed boy said from the tree next to them, “You’re a disgrace to our village.”

The boy was standing on the bottom of one of the trees branches hanging upside down. Despite the odd place he had chosen to stand he gave off a threatening aura. His pale teal eyes looked cold and lifeless. He knew those eyes.

‘ _I knew I had sensed one of my siblings close by. Careful, Hadrian, that boy is the jinchūriki of Shukaku. He is very likely insane. My brother likes to torture his jinchūrikis by making it impossible for them to sleep_ ,’ Kurama suddenly shifted inside him.

‘That’s very cruel of your brother, but I can see the dark shadows under his eyes,’ he thought for a moment, ‘Will he be aware you that you are sealed inside of me?’

Kurama snorted, ‘ _Shukaku would never share anything that might be important with his jinchūriki. He hates them_.’

He looked at the small boy who had probably gone through many of the same things he had, ‘That’s a pity. It’s better to get along with each other. It’s less lonely that way.’

‘ _Agreed_.’

He looked the boy in the eyes and smiled. The least he could do is be friendly to his fellow jinchūriki. If possible he would very much like to be friends. He knew they would have a lot in common. He would find a way to get him alone so they could talk, a chance to speak to another jinchūriki may never come again. But instead of smiling back the boy just looked suspicious and frowned hatefully at him. That was confirmation enough that Shukaku did not share any information with his jinchūriki. It also aligned with his suspicions that jinchūriki were treated the same in every village. That was fine though, he wasn’t like the villagers.

“Gaara,” Kankuro stuttered clearly afraid.

He liked Gaara already if he could cause that reaction from Cat Suit.

“Why do you think we came all the way to the Hidden Leaf?” Garra asked.

“Listen, Gaara, these guys started it,” Kankuro was a terrible liar.

“Shut up,” Garra demanded.

“Alright, I was at fault. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry,” Kankuro apologized to the wrong person.

“Excuse them, you guys,” Gaara said disappearing in a swirl of sand before reappearing next to Kankuro and the blond.

He turned to look at Sasuke to gauge whether he wanted to continue the fight with Kankuro. He seemed bored with the whole situation so he felt it was fine to end the confrontation there. But he did hat not having the last word.

“Because I like you, Gaara, was it?” he paused waiting for the redhead to nod.

He smiled at him, “We’ll forget about your teammate’s behaviour.”

He felt Sasuke tensing behind him but dismissed it. If it was important Sasuke would tell him later.

Gaara narrowed his eyes but nodded once in their direction before turning away, “Let’s go. We didn’t come here to fool around.”

Once the sand shinobi were out of sight they continued walking toward the library. Even his minion decided to came along. The beating he almost received seemed to have really shaken him. He kept his hand on Konohamaru’s shoulder as they walked and slowly felt the tension bleeding away. Sakura’s attitude also seemed to have gotten better as she chatted with his minion’s friends which he had failed to notice earlier.

As they entered the library he leaned close to Sasuke so he wouldn’t be overheard, “Did you do any research into what I am yet?”

“No,” Sasuke said looking thoughtfully at the shelves of books.

“Gaara is the same. Watch out for him,” he added helpfully.

“Is that why you suddenly decided to like him?” Sasuke asked quickly.

“Part of it. Also, did you see how scared Cat Suit was of him? I think he is definitely worth knowing,” he said with a chuckle remembering the look of fear on Kankuro’s face.

***

The following day he went to meet his teammates at the bridge near the team 7 training grounds. As usual, they were waiting for Kakashi to arrive. He leaned against the railing of the bridge watching they water. He felt calm as he watched the water sparkle in the sun. They had only waited for thirty minutes when Sakura reached her breaking point with a growl. Her patience rather than improving seemed to be growing shorter every time Kakashi made them wait.

“Why does that person always make us wait when he’s the one who told us when to show up? I couldn’t even blow dry my hair this morning because it would have made me late and he didn’t even bother to show up,” she yelled at him and Sasuke like they could do anything about it.

“He is always late. I’m sure you could have blow dried your hair and still gotten here before him, or if not he couldn’t actually get you into trouble given his own perpetual lateness,” he told her.

She glared at him. He saw her take a deep breath so she would have enough air to yell at him.

Just in time for him to avoid Sakura’s temper, Kakashi popped into place on top of one of the wooden arches of the bridge, “I got lost on the path of life.”

“Liar,” Sakura yelled as Kakashi jumped down.

“I’ll get to the point. I recommended all of you for the chūnin selection exam, so take these applications,” Kakashi said holding out three thick envelopes.

“You recommended us for the chūnin exam?” Sakura asked, shock clear in her voice.

“Don’t you want to be able to take on higher paying missions, Sakura?” he ahe was sure msked her.

She still seemed unsure. He frowned he was sure they would need to convince her to take the exam. He knew from the Sand shinobi they met yesterday that the exam would likely be done in groups of three, at least to start.

“The recommendation does not force you to take it. You decide if you want to take it or not,” Kakashi reassured her, he wished he hadn’t.

“So we just fill out the paperwork?” Sasuke asked confidently.

“If you wish to take the exam, fill in the forms. You have five days to decide, if you choose to participate hand them in at the academy outside room 301 by 3pm,” Kakashi advised them, “Also, all nonessential missions are suspended until after the exam.”

After he finished speaking Kakashi poofed away in a cloud of smoke. He felt his stomach drop at the parting line. He was already struggling to survive on what little they were making, but now he would be without income for at least a week maybe longer. He really needed to pass the exam so he could make up the difference or he needed to come up with something else quickly.

He walked over to Sasuke and spoke quietly so Sakura wouldn’t hear, “We will need all three of us to take the exam, can you please manipulate her into accepting.”

“Why?” Sasuke asked eyes narrowing in her direction with distaste.

He hated to admit weakness and even though Sasuke had proven in wave that he could be trusted he refused to give up his private worries, “If we’re going to get stronger we need to be able to go on harder missions. I want to be Hokage, you want to kill your brother. We need to advance. D rank missions are worthless.”

Sasuke considered his words before sighing, “Alright, I’ll do it but you owe me.”

He smiled at his friend, “Thank you. I owe you one reasonable favour.”

“Fine,” Sasuke agreed.

He knew Sakura had been trying to listen in. She was staring at them with a huge frown on her face. He smiled at her as he left. When he glanced back on his way off the bridge he saw her angry glare turn into a huge smile as Sasuke approached her. With a sense of satisfaction in a job well done he left them with a spring in his step.

He had just entered the trees that blocked the bridge from view of the village when Kakashi stepped out to walk beside him.

“I know what you’re doing. I specifically didn’t mention the exam was in groups so all of you could decide on your own if taking the exam was something you each wanted,” Kakashi’s voice dripped disapproval, “You also shouldn’t take advantage of Sasuke’s feelings for such low purposes.”

“She will make the decision herself. She would never risk separation from Sasuke and we both know he will enter the exam. I’m just helping her realize what she wants sooner than she would have on her own. And helping each other is what friends do. I will return the favour later when Sasuke needs help,” he said coldly.

“That’s not-, people can die in the chūnin selection exam,” Kakashi added after cutting himself off mid sentence.

He sighed getting angry, “We won’t. Sasuke and I would protect her; Sasuke’s a prodigy and I am a jinchūriki. She will make it through the group portion of the exam, after that if she’s really worried she can leave. I have training to do now, good-bye sensei.”

He left before Kakashi could say anything else to piss him off.

***

He punched and kicked at one of the training posts on the training grounds reserved for team 7. He was angry because someone from rain had tried to attack him out of nowhere. He had won easily but it was the principle of the thing. Why did all the forein shinobi coming to the village think it was a good idea to attack the hidden leaf’s shinobi? It made no sense.

He would need an edge in the exam, something beyond the shadow clones. He needed something new that even his teammates didn’t know he could do. Relying on Kurama while in the village was a terrible idea, the council would probably try to kill him if they thought the seal was breaking. It was all so frustrating. If he could get his hands on some chakra paper he could look into elemental justu but he couldn’t afford it.

‘ _I have an idea_ ,’ Kurama chimed in.

‘You do?’ he asked hopefully.

‘ _What about Kushina’s technique_?’

He felt intrigued by the idea but saw one major flaw, ‘Wasn’t she only able to use that technique because she had a special type of chakra?’

‘ _Her technique was stronger because of her unique chakra but the jutsu itself was an Uzumaki clan technique_ ,’ the fox explained.

He smiled. It was absolutely perfect except for the fact there was no longer an Uzumaki clan to teach him. All of their fūinjutsu was lost when the Village Hidden by Whirlpools was destroyed. Anyone remaining from the clan had gone into hiding in other villages.

‘ _I can give you the hand-signs it’s up to you to figure out how much chakra to use and how to control it_ ,’ Kurama warned him.

He smiled, ‘I’ll figure it out. I have a whole week.’

***

He had spent the last four days training. He had stopped training earlier in the day so he could go to sleep early. He wanted to be in excellent condition to take the exam the next day.

He was just finishing his instant cup ramen that he had forced himself to love because it was the only thing he could afford to eat. He heard an obnoxious tapping sound at the kitchen window. He waited for whoever it was to stop but the tapping continued for nearly ten minutes. With a huff of frustration he walked over to the counter looked out the window. The counter dug painfully into his lower stomach as he leaned over it to look outside. He had been expecting a shinobi but what he saw was a plain brown owl. Now that it saw him the tapping stopped and the owl seemed to be waiting for him to open the window. He palmed a kunai from his weapons pouch and opened the window slowly aware it could be a shinobi using the transformation jutsu to look like an owl.

As soon as the window was opened he jumped back and held the kunai defensively in front of him. The owl flew in, dropped a letter on the counter, ate some of his ramen, and then flew back out the window. Worried that the letter might be a paper bomb he threw the kunai toward it so that the kunai landed on it without damaging the writing. He waited about a minute for something to happen before deciding that it wasn’t a paper bomb and he could probably open the letter.

The letter was addressed to Mr. Hadrian Potter which he could only assume was the last name of his unknown father. He read the letter, at first the writing was illegible but as if something clicked the golden power inside of him seemed to absorb power from the letter and then he could read the words that were written with ease.

The contents of the letter were simple. He was invited to Gringotts Wizarding Bank to accept access to the trust fund his parents left him before they died. He would only be eligible to withdraw from the fund when he turned eleven. He also had to meet certain conditions his parents had placed on the vault in question. The conditions would be explained more fully in person when he arrived via a port-key.

He had no idea what a port-key was but apparently the letter was one and to activate it all he had to do was say the password aloud while holding the letter. In his case, the password was something that would not come up in normal conversation. He supposed that was to avoid accidental activation. The password was Rutabaga.

He snorted at the password but found himself intrigued by the letter. Unfortunately, with the chūnin exam beginning the next day he didn’t have time to try the port-key right away. He put the letter on the counter planning to use it once the chūnin exams were finished. The fact that he might have money was a huge relief but he was concerned about the strings attached. He knew his parents would have intended to raise him themselves so the conditions may be beyond his ability to accomplish with them dead.

He would just have to put his worries and questions aside until the exams were done. His birthday was still a month away. The chūnin selection exam was the only thing that was important him right now. There was also the chance that the letter was an elaborate attempt by the village to prevent him from entering the exam. They probably already had a replacement teammate lined up for Sasuke and Sakura in case their plan worked.

He had no intention of giving the village the satisfaction.


	12. Chapter 10

He was one of the first genin to arrive at the Academy the next morning. Even though the forms didn’t have to be handed in until 3pm he didn’t want to risk being late. He also couldn’t discount the possibility that handing in the forms could also be part of the test. If there was some secret challenge to handing in the forms then he would make sure that team 7 had the time to pass. The day before they had decided as a team to meet at the Academy for 11am. It was only 10am but he wanted to make sure there would be time to go find Sakura and convince her of the need to enter if she changed her mind about coming. Though with Sasuke as the bait that was very unlikely.

About thirty minutes later Sasuke swaggered up to the entrance with his usual too cool to talk to you confidence firmly in place. He had discovered since they became friends that his attitude problems were a self defence mechanism. It was his armour to keep the hoards of fangirls at bay. But he would be lying if he said he that he didn’t still find it annoying.

“Thank you again for convincing Sakura. Any idea what you want as a favour?” he asked.

Sasuke just raised his eyebrow at him.

He sighed, “I hate being indebted to people.”

Sasuke studied him for a few moments before answering with a smirk, “I’ll let you know when I want something.”

He frowned but he couldn’t force Sasuke to decide on a favour. He trusted Sasuke a lot more now but he still felt uncomfortable about the favour. The only condition he had placed on it was that it had to be reasonable. Somehow, he couldn’t help but think that Sasuke already knew what he wanted based on the smirk he was wearing. Sasuke was being clever and waiting until he actually wanted to redeem his favour before asking for it. He only hoped he didn’t wait too long. He hated being in suspense almost as much as he hated owing someone.

“Good morning Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said coming up to them.

“Morning,” Sasuke said.

She looked at Sasuke before blushing and looking away flushed. He raised an eyebrow at Sasuke curious about what he had said to get her to take the exam with them if that was her reaction to seeing him. His teammate just looked back smug. She was the only one who didn’t come early. She showed up exactly at 11am with her hands twisting together anxiously. He decided they should hurry inside to avoid her losing her courage before the exam began.

“Shall we go in?” he asked already starting to walk toward the entrance so they couldn’t say no.

Sakura stayed next to Sasuke and grabbed onto his sleeve as they walked as if afraid he would disappear if she didn’t. Perhaps Sasuke offered to date her, he felt a little uncomfortable about that if it was true. He really hoped not. That went above and beyond the favour he had asked for.

They walked into the Academy. He had felt a genjutsu effect him the second they entered the Academy. Sakura and Sasuke noticed the genjutsu too and Sakura broke it for them all. They saw a large crowd of genin loitering around a room labelled 101 seemingly under the impression it was the place they needed to be. They were only on the first floor so it wasn’t possible for that to be the right room. He chuckled softly as two genin aged shinobi stood in front of the door blocking it. They knocked down a genin in green spandex that tried to enter the room. He grabbed the other two by the arms.

“We aren’t helping them,” he whispered to them.

They both nodded their agreement. The fewer people who registered for the exam, the better their chances of becoming chūnin were. The three of them continued up two more flights of stairs until they reached the actual room 301. Outside the door was a table with two chūnin sitting at it. They got behind the genin team who was already at the desk. The chūnin accepted their applications easily because they had managed to get past the genjutsu.

As he had expected their was a preliminary test to hand in the registration forms. He felt that his caution when setting the meeting time was vindicated.

Once they handed their applications in they were given a tag with a number and directed into the classroom. The classroom was shaped like a large amphitheatre. The first thing that stood out was that aside from a select few almost all the genin were dressed in muted colours. If he could purchase anything else in the village he would have been in muted colours too but one of the villagers’ small revenges was refusing to sell him anything but the ugliest orange sweat suit imaginable. He could tell he was drawing attention due to the bright colour and suddenly felt like a target was being drawn on his back. Some of the foreign shinobi seemed to almost take personal offence to his outfit like he was declaring to them all that he was so good he didn’t even need to camouflage. There was nothing he could do about his clothes so he would just need to prove that he was in fact that good.

He looked over the crowd trying to see if there was anyone he recognized. His eyes landed on Gaara who was there with his two teammates. He smiled at him as soon as they made eye contact. He felt was making progress, Gaara hadn’t even scowled at him that time before he looked away. He was hoping to speak with him before the exam started but he had allowed himself to get sidetracked by his training. He would get the conversation that he wanted, he would just have to wait until the exams were over.

“Sasuke-kun, you’re late,” Ino said coming from behind.

Her team had just entered through the doors behind them. He moved over so they wouldn’t be in the way of any other teams arriving.

Ino decided it was appropriate to jump on Sasuke’s back, “I’ve been eagerly waiting for you ever since I heard that I could see you again. It’s been such a long time.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the girl. He shifted a little further away from his teammates. Which was lucky because Sakura looked like she was getting angry.

“Get away from Sasuke-kun, you Ino-pig,” Sakura said territorially.

“Oh, it’s you, Sakura. Your forehead is wide and you’re still ugly, as usual,” Ino shot back, finally getting off of Sasuke.

He had to stop himself from groaning out loud. Ino’s behaviour was very out of place in the serious atmosphere of the classroom. He was also interested to see that the other six graduates from their class had also been recommended. He had thought Hinata would be too timid and Shikamaru too lazy to want to take part in the chūnin selection exam. He assumed they were probably only there for their teammates’ sake. Still he felt frustrated that the others were also recommended. Their team had gone on a mission that was above the level normally given to genin. They had almost died fighting against higher ranked enemy shinobi but succeeded in their mission in spite of the odds. So it made sense for Kakashi to recommend them as their level was clearly above that of ordinary genin. He didn’t know what the others had done to be considered ready but he was sure they hadn’t accomplished what his team had managed. He felt cheated that they were there too.

He decided to walk away from the fangirling happening around Sasuke and made his way over to Shikamaru and the other rookies, as they were being called due to being the youngest entrants in the exam.

“Are you three going to take this troublesome exam too?” Shikamaru asked him.

“Obviously, what’s surprising is that you are here. I would have assumed it would be too much effort,” he said with a polite smile on his face.

Before Shikamaru could answer him Kiba decided to interject loudly enough for the entire room to here his boasting, “So all nine genin rookies from this year are going to take the exam. How far do you think we can get?”

“You seem to be confident,” Sasuke said finally managing to extract himself from the fangirls.

“We trained like hell. We won’t lose to you,” Kiba oozed confidence as he spoke.

Beside him Sasuke smirked. He had to stop himself from doing the same. The only person on their team Kiba could even hope to beat was Sakura. But he couldn’t say that aloud or Sakura could lose the confidence she had gained from breaking the genjutsu earlier. Until the exam officially started he needed to make sure she didn’t back out.

“Good luck,” he said to Shikamaru.

Choji was eating so he just nooded in his direction. He tried to subtly move away from the others because he could see that the rookie group was beginning to garner negative attention from the other participants. Sasuke moved with him and they rejoined Sakura by the doors. They moved further into the crowd away from the other rookies. He really hoped that Ino didn’t try to follow Sasuke or his subtle distancing would have been for nothing.

He was just in time moving their team away from the others. As he had thought they had made a bad impression on the other genin.

“Hey,” a silver haired man said to get their attention, “you guys should quiet down a little. You’re all fooling around but this isn’t a field trip.”

He inched a little farther away from the other six rookies. He didn’t want a larger target than they probably already had painted on his back. He should really move out of earshot but he was curious enough to stay and watch.

“Who are you to tell us that?” Ino yelled.

Even his curiosity wasn’t worth the risk of being pulled back into whatever confrontation they were about to have. The three of them found their way over to one of the few areas where there were still some chairs available and sat down. Sakura seemed almost as nervous as she had been earlier when she arrived. He really hoped Ino hadn’t said anything too terrible to her. He needed to distract he before she spiralled too deep into negative thoughts and decided to quit. There was still a couple of hours until 3pm.

“What do you think the first exam will be?” he asked looking at Sakura for an answer.

She seemed surprised but based on the thoughtful look she got he knew she was distracted thinking about the answer. She took her time to look around the room cataloguing all the details and clues. He watched her body language slowly straighten and the fidgeting stop. He glanced at her face to see a smile which was very good.

“Based on the room, I would guess first will be a written test,” she said.

Of course she looked happy. Tests were her strength as a student, not much help in the field but excellent for these types of situations. He smiled back at her happy that she didn’t look like she wanted to leave anymore. Just two more hours until the exam would begin.

***

Once the clock showed that it was past 3pm, the examiner arrived along with several chūnin in a dramatic puff of smoke. He had seen the chairs lining the walls and knew that the extra chūnin were most likely there to prevent the examinees from being dishonest.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I am the examiner of the first test of the chūnin selection exam, Ibiki Morino. You three from the Hidden Sound, don’t think you can do anything you want before the exam. Do you want us to fail you already?” Ibiki said toward the back of the room.

He along with most of the genin in the room turned to stare at the sound genin. He could see that one of them was looming over the silver haired genin who was clearly injured. Once again he congratulated himself on having the forethought to leave the group of rookies who were drawing too much negative attention. It seemed their confrontation had spread beyond the silver haired guy to include the sound shinobi as well. If he kept following his instincts which seemed to be correct so far then the exam should be easy for them to pass. He needed to be a chūnin for the sake of his financial future.

“I’m sorry. I was excited, since this is my first exam,” the sound shinobi who was looming over the silver haired genin said.

His apology did not sound sincere more like a rehearsed line performed by a bad actor. A large number of missions required Shinobi to be able to lie effectively. It was a skill that shinobi needed to nurture until they could lie to anyone at anytime without being caught. The sound shinobi were either hiding how good they were at lying of lacked the skill to become a true shinobi.

“This is a good chance to say this, you are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. Even if the permission is given, you are not allowed to kill the other. Pigs who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?”

“This exam seems so soft and easy,” he could hear the sneer in the other male sound shinobi’s voice.

Ibiki moved on as if the genin hadn’t spoken, “We will now begin the first exam of the chūnin selection exam. Each of you were given a number on your way in by the chūnins sitting at the desk, sit in the seat that has the same number as you received. Then we will pass out the papers for the written exam.”

He pulled the tag he had been given out of his pocket. He glanced at the number 53 written on it. He then looked at the desk he was sitting at to see how far away he would need to move. He smiled at his good fortune. He was already sitting at desk 53.

“Looks like I don’t need to move anywhere,” he told the others as they stood to go find their own seats.

Both of their numbers were higher than his so he knew they would be seated behind him during the test. The next time he would see then they will have hopefully passed the first exam. He had no doubt that they would be able to pass.

“Good luck,” Sakura told him and Sasuke as she waved goodbye.

Sasuke nodded to him as he also went to find his seat. Because he didn’t need to look for his seat he had to wait patiently for everyone else to find their’s. He tapped his fingers on the desk and watched the crowd thin as more genin sat down in their assigned seats. The numbers had been given in such a way that none of the genin were seated anywhere near their teammates for the exam. That meant no one would be able to rely on their teammates for assistance with the test.

“Hello Hadrian,” a soft voice greeted from beside him.

He glanced over at the seat next to him and found Hinata blushing at him. He had never had much contact with Hinata at the academy. He felt inclined to feel more positive about her due to the fact that she had always been nice to him the few times they did speak. He smiled at her deciding to be friendly. Her face flushed an even deeper red which concerned him a little.

“Hinata, are you worried about the test?” he asked her.

She shook her head, “Let’s both do our best.”

“Of course, good luck,” he smiled.

“You too,” she smiled back.

Ibiki tapped on the chalkboard with a piece of chalk in an attempt to gain the attention of all the genin in the room. He turned away from Hinata reluctantly. He was still a little concerned that it wasn’t healthy for so much of her blood to be redirected to her face fore such a long period of time. However, he suspected that the blush was mostly his fault so looking away would probably help her more than catching her when she fell from a lack of blood anywhere else.

“This first exam has a few important rules. I will not accept any questions so listen carefully,” Ibiki paused so everyone could give him their full attention.

He sat up straighter in his chair focusing on the front of the room trying to project the image of a completely engaged student. He refused to give anyone an excuse to say he wasn’t paying complete attention to the rules.

It was likely that there would be some type of trick located within the rules of the exam. The chūnin exams were designed to test their abilities as shinobi without seeming to do so. Shinobi took on a wide range of missions and therefore they required an equally wide range of skills to be successful in completing their missions. It was especially important the higher your rank was to be prepared for all eventualities. The more advanced the mission was the more proficient the shinobi was required to be.

“The first rule is that you will all start with 10 points. The written exam consists of 10 questions with each question being worth one point. This test is deduction based so if you get a question wrong you will lose 1 point.

The second rule is that the decision about whether you pass or fail is determined by your team’s total score at the end of the exam.

The third rule is if an examiner determines that you cheated during the test you will automatically lose 2 points, meaning that if you are caught cheating five times you will be asked to leave without your test being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves. We will be watching the entire exam, you are all trying to become chūnins. If you are a shinobi, be a first-rate one.

The fourth rule is if anyone in a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail.

The final rule is that the last problem will be given 45 minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour, begin.” Ibiki explained.

He felt the concept of the test was a pretty simple one to grasp. He knew already that both Sakura and Sasuke were intelligent enough to answer the questions. Sakura would likely know all of the answers already and Sasuke would be able to cheat with his sharingan without costing them enough points to fail. He also had been studying theory alone since he was a student at the academy. He had read some advanced theory books and scrolls while he was at the library most evenings so he felt confident he would be able to answer enough questions to avoid getting a zero on the test. Even though the exam allowed for cheating he felt he wouldn’t need to risk that. If he was honest with himself he knew that none of the jutsu he had learnt could be used for cheating in this type of environment where he was always being watched.

He turned over the test paper and wrote his name at the top right away. He took his time to read over all of the questions on the test. He frowned at the test even with his advanced theory knowledge he could answer none of the question on the test. The test questions were completely beyond his current level of knowledge. He made a mental note to look up the answers the next time he was at the library.

He knew the trick to the exam now that he had seen the test. It was designed to force him to cheat because the questions were beyond what any genin would know. He sighed quietly to himself trying to think about a way to cheat without a jutsu and not get caught. He wasted the first ten minutes of the test trying and failing to come up with any ideas.

‘Kurama? If I gave you the questions do you think any of your experience could help me answer them?’ he asked with hope.

‘ _What are the questions_?’ Kurama asked.

‘Just look through one of my eyes, it’ll be easier than reading it out to you,’ he said impatiently.

Without another word his right eye went dark, ‘ _Let me use your arm as well_.’

He didn’t put up any resistance as Kurama’s chakra moved to control his right arm. He let it go limp in his mind and watched with detatched satisfaction as his controlled hand began writing the answers onto the test paper. The writing didn’t look the same as his own but he figured they wouldn’t go so far as to compare the test to a writing sample, especially considering it was unlikely that had a writing sample from the foreign genin who had come to attend the exam.

In twenty minutes he had finished the test. He felt that technically hadn’t even cheated. Kurama was inside of him which made him a part of him. It was like a closer version of the partnership between Kiba and Akamaru. He wouldn’t be living up to his full potential if he didn’t use every resource available to him. In his opinion to be considered cheating he would have needed to copy an answer from another genin. Because his resource was not human it couldn’t count. He should be given all ten points at the end. If not he would file an official complaint once he had passed the exam.

‘Thank-you, Kurama,’ he thought happily.

With a grumble he regained the use of his right side, ‘ _You’re welcome, kit_.’

It was the first time he had ever been given a nickname. When he had first started speaking to the nine-tailed fox he had felt like Kurama could become a friend. But over the last couple of months he had begun to think of it more like having a parent or sibling. Someone to help him when he needed it. Someone who would protect him if he was in danger. Kurama had begun to feel like family. If possible he would like to give Kurama his freedom one day. Of course he would need to find a way to do so without dying himself in the process. But that would be many years in the future if he ever managed to free him at all.

He put his head down for the next twenty five minutes so the chūnin examiners couldn’t lie about him cheating in order to make his team fail. He knew logically that if they tried to fail him Sasuke would also fail and that would upset the villagers who adored him. Sasuke was the exact opposite of him getting admiration and special treatment without even trying. He used to hate him for it but now that they were friends he was able to see the situation and it’s advantages more clearly.

A few minutes later he felt his hair move as something flew past his head, “You were caught cheating five times, you fail. Teammates of his, get out of here, now.”

He was thankful that at most he would have lost only two points if one of the chūnin decided to penalize him for utilizing Kurama’s assistance in answering the exam questions. The worst way to fail in his opinion would be failing through incompetence. At least when it was others moving against you there was someone to blame. He pitied the teammates of such untalented people but teams were the shinobi way. You were only as strong as your weakest link. Slowly, numbers were called out by the chūnin as more and more genin failed to cheat effectively. He kept his head down listening to the footsteps leaving the hall. This exam was more effective than he had thought it would be at whittling down the number of participants to a more manageable number.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist from where his head was cradled in his arms. Looks like there was only two more minutes until the tenth question was given. He raised his head from the desk without looking around him. He fixed his gaze on Ibiki and refused to look away. He was still concerned the chūnin would take any excuse to drop his score down to two points that way he would personally have a low score but Sasuke wouldn’t fail.

“Looks like we’ve already dropped the incompetent ones,” Ibiki’s voice carried in the quiet of the room gaining everyone’s attention quickly, “I will now give you the tenth problem. But before that there is a special rule for the last question. First you will choose if you wish to take the tenth problem or not. If you choose not to take it your points will be reduced to zero and you will fail. If you choose to take it and get it wrong you will never be able to take the chūnin exam again.”

“What kind of dumb rule is that?” Kiba yelled out from somewhere behind him, “There should be those here who have taken the chūnin exam in the past.”

Akamaru barked his agreement with his master’s statement. He had to keep from rolling his eyes at Kiba’s outburst. He was 90 percent sure Ibiki couldn’t blacklist talented genin most of which were from wealthy and famous clans from taking the exam again. This was just another ploy to to weed out the weak. Ibiki was a very good liar. He was impressed with his skill in the art. If it weren’t for the fact that it was illogical and unlikely he would have believed Ibiki without question.

“You were unlucky. This year, I am the rule,” Ibiki said dramatically, “That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident can choose to not take it, and take the exam next year, or the year after that.”

Ibiki stared down everyone in the room, “Let us begin. Those who will not be taking this tenth question, raise your hands. After we confirm your numbers, we will have you and your teammates leave the room.”

After only a few moments the man next to him stood up, “I quit. I won’t take it.”

It was like he had given the others who were too cowardly to be shinobi an excuse to give in to their fear. Several other hands went up shortly after he and his team had left the classroom. That continued for a few more minutes until only those who were accepting the final question were left. There were 18 teams remaining, 54 genin total. Ibiki still let everyone wait for another ten minutes until the test only had five minutes remaining before he continued speaking.

“I will ask again, this is a choice that will impact your life. If you want to quit, now is the chance,” he waited a moment but no additional hands went up, “Then, for the first exam everyone here passes.”

“Wait, what’s the meaning of that? We pass already? What about the tenth question?” Sakura exclaimed.

He smiled at his teammate’s love of tests. He did wish she wouldn’t try to ruin everyone else’s relief. She had probably been able to answer every question on the test. She must have felt cheated out of an opportunity to show off how book smart she was. Even the examiners chuckled at her outburst. He was sure that someone being upset that they didn’t have to answer another question was a rare occurrence.

“We just answered the tenth question, Sakura,” he told her, “Stay or go?”

She sat down with a huff but didn’t find fault with his guess. He turned to Ibiki to see him nodding in agreement so he was correct about the tenth question. His cheek twitched but he did not allow himself to smile. He thought it might seem petty.

“So what were those previous nine questions for? It was all a waste,” the blond sand shinobi sounded angry.

“No, they were not. The previous nine questions served the purpose of testing your information gathering skills,” Ibiki explained.

He was finding it harder not to smile. All of his guesses about the true purpose of the test were proving to be correct. If you always expected the trick no one could trick you anymore. He knew there was a dark side to the village and to the shinobi culture in general. The higher your rank was the more exposed to the darkness you became. Most genin would only have seen a hint of it but he was different, he was part of the dark side just by being a jinchūriki. He knew the evils people could sink to if they thought you were a threat or when they thought you were beneath them. He had learnt to always be prepared for when the dark side came to find him. It had always found him before and until the hearts of the people changed it would always find him.

From the corner of his eye he could see a large black shape approaching the window. A large black cloth bundle crashed through the window. The ball of fabric unfolded to reveal a banner that read: Second Examiner, Anko Mitarashi is here. The woman herself had been in huddled in the centre of the bundle. She stood in front of the bundle looking proud of herself.

“Everybody, there’s no time to be happy. I am the second examiner, Anko Mitarashi. Let’s go to the next exam,” she sounded very passionate, “follow me.”

Silence greeted her statement. She was certainly not what he had expected the second examiner to be. After Ibiki who looked very serious with his scars and no nonsense attitude she was disappointing. He disliked her exuberance. It reminded him of the way he used to pretend to be. He had nothing but disdain for that mask he had once worn. Ibiki came out from behind the banner unsurprised by the second examiner’s antics. That told him that the woman had not put on a mask exclusively for the exam. She likely wore it all the time.

“Looks like there are a lot of talented students this exam.” Ibiki informed her.

“I’m going to make more than half of the teams fail in the next exam,” Anko said with a darker tone that felt more familiar to him, “I’m getting excited. The second exam will take place tomorrow so ask your jounin teachers about the rally point and time. Dismissed.”


	13. Chapter 11

The next morning all of the genin who had made it to the second exam had been told to meet at 9am in front of a restricted training ground. It was a training ground that was considered to be too dangerous for use in ordinary circumstances. It was usually used in times of conflict with other villages or nations. The second exam was considered an extenuating circumstance so it had been opened specially for their use by the Hokage. Warning signs covered the fence which encircled the forest of overgrown trees.

“This is where your second exam will take place. The 44th training ground, also known as the Forest of Death,” Anko said as soon as all the teams had arrived.

He felt a shiver down his back when he heard the nickname of the training ground. He felt like the name was a bad omen. He just had a feeling that something would go wrong in the forest he just didn’t know what bad thing would happen. He supposed it was a restricted training ground for a reason. He hoped that they could finish the exam quickly so they could hopefully avoid whatever was making him uneasy. But knowing the way shinobi operated, it was more likely for the goal of the second exam to be something tedious that would take them time and effort to accomplish.

“This sure is a creepy place,” Sakura said concerned as she looked at the treetops.

The trees were massive in size from what he could see beyond the fence. They were more than three times the size of the trees found around the village and at the other training grounds. It gave off a wild feeling like it belonged to nature. It was not a place for humans to enter lightly.

“You will be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death,” Anko said with a chuckle having heard Sakura.

“It doesn’t look too bad, I’m more excited than scared,” he lied.

Somehow despite the untamed feeling of the forest he felt that it would not be so harsh to him. Maybe because Kurama was a predator by nature, he felt like the forest would be more likely to welcome him than kill him. The problem was with his instincts telling him danger was coming. He was sure only that the danger was not the forest itself but what they would encounter once they were inside of it.

“Really?” Anko seemed offended that the location she had chosen wasn’t scary enough for him.

She threw a kunai at him faster than he could react to it. He felt the blade cut his cheek as the kunai flew past him. As always the cut on his face healed after a few seconds. But it seemed that his blood was all Anko was after as she had suddenly appeared behind him using the body flicker jutsu. He felt her arms wind around him holding him against her. She forced his head to tilt to the side as she leaned in closer.

“Boys like you die the fastest,” she licked up the blood from his face, “After spilling that red blood I love all over the place.”

It was disgusting. She didn’t move away from him as soon as she had made her point. She stayed close and he could feel her breath cooling the wet skin of his cheek. He shuddered in revulsion which she mistook for fear with a triumphant smirk. He didn’t correct her assumption. Anko tensed her arms squeezing him tighter against her. A few moments later her arms loosened as a shinobi’s tongue came into view holding the kunai she had thrown. He took the opportunity to put a little more distance between them. The person behind Anko with the exceptionally long and dexterous tongue was one of the genin from the Hidden Grass village. He resolved to avoid any more encounters with people’s mouths for the remainder of the chūnin exam.

“It looks like there are a lot of hotheaded people here today. This is going to be interesting,” she was smiling sadistically as she said it.

He did not like the look on her face at all. He would need to keep his guard up if he hoped to survive the chūnin exams. Nature at times was willing to welcome him but humans never had. They likely never would. He once again felt the invisible target that the other genin had painted on the backs of the rookie nine. This exam was making him nervous. It was a feeling he hated on the rare occasions that he felt it.

“Before we begin the second exam, I’m going to pass these consent forms out to everyone. The consent forms must be signed by everyone participating in the exam before you can enter the training grounds. From here on, people will die. Therefore, we will need your signature consenting that you are willing to continue and absolving the Village Hidden by Leaves and me of responsibility in the event of death, injury, illness, etcetera,” she said waving the forms around with a chuckle.

She handed the stack of forms to the genin who was standing nearest to her so they could be passed around while she was explaining the exam.

“Now, I will begin the explanation of the second exam. You will all go through an extreme survival match,” Anko began.

He took a form before passing the remaining stack of consent forms to Sasuke. At the front Anko paused her speech to unroll a large scroll with a map of the training grounds. The map wasn’t detailed enough to find your way if you were lost but it gave a basic idea of the general locations of certain large landmarks.

“I will explain the geographical features of the 44th training grounds. The forest of death is inside of a circular fence with 44 locked gates evenly spaced around it. There is a river, the forest, and in the middle is a tower. The tower is located approximately 10km from each of the gates. For this exam you will need to survive the training grounds while fighting with your fellow shinobi over these scrolls,” she held two scrolls up where all the genin could see.

One of the scrolls was white with the word heaven written on it while the other was black with the word earth written on the binding. They were each small enough to be hidden on a shinobi without being seen by the casual observer. This meant that they wouldn’t be able to tell who had the scroll when they fought against another team.

“Eighteen teams passed the first exam. Nine will be given the heaven scroll and nine will be given the earth scroll. To pass you must get to the tower in the centre of the forest with both a heaven and an earth scroll. Anything goes for how you survive and how you get the opposite scroll. There is only one rule,” she paused there for dramatic effect, “You cannot open either of the scrolls before you enter the tower with both of your teammates. If you open the scrolls or arrive with less than three teammates, you will regret it. You will also fail.”

“Excuse me,” Shikamaru raised his hand, “Can we quit during the exam?”

It was a completely expected question from Shikamaru. Based on the look he was getting from Ino even if the answer to his question was yes he would not be allowed to quit. He smiled at them but made sure he had turned away before they could see it.

“The time limit is 120 hours, exactly five days. You are not allowed to give up before the time limit has passed,” he could hear Shikamaru sigh from the other side of the clearing.

“How troublesome,” he grumbled to Choji who nodded on autopilot, distracted by his bag of chips.

“That’s it for the explanation. You can exchange your consent forms for a scroll at the hut over there,” she pointed to where it was located, “once you have your scrolls you will be assigned a gate. The exam will begin when the chūnin stationed at your gate unlocks it.”

He exchanged glances with his teammates. They both looked determined to continue so they headed over to the hut along with the rest of the genin. Because they had been one of the teams farthest from the hut they had to wait at the end of the line. Curtains had been put in place so the teams would have privacy. It also made it so they couldn’t see which teams got which scrolls. They were one of the last three teams to enter the hut. They went in together and signed the waivers where the chūnin behind the table could see them before handing the consent forms in. They were given a tag with the number 12 and the heaven scroll. He took the scroll and slipped it into his weapons pouch.

After exiting the hut they went to the gate labelled with the number 12 to wait. A chūnin was already at the gate. He would check his watch every few seconds waiting for the time that he could unlock the gate. Once the gate was unlocked the second exam would start. While they were waiting was the best time to talk strategy. That way they would be sure that none of the other genin were able to overhear.

“How are we going to approach getting another scroll?” he asked wanting them all to be on the same page.

“What do you mean?” Sakura asked.

“Do we wait for someone to attack us and then take their scroll or do we actively hunt for a target and take their scroll?” he clarified.

“I say we make our way toward the tower. One of the other teams is bound to target us on the way, especially if we don’t bother masking our presence,” Sasuke said.

“I agree with Sasuke-kun,” Sakura said immediately.

“That makes sense, it will be less work for us that way,” he agreed.

“You’re sounding a little like Shikamaru now,” Sakura joked.

He scowled at her, “Taking the path of least resistance doesn’t make me lazy, it makes me smart.”

“Whatever,” Sasuke said ending the conversation.

They just had to remember not to put their guard down for even a single moment. If they were playing the prey they should be weary of being taken by surprise. He wouldn’t put it past the other teams to set traps or ambushes in the forest to make getting the scroll easier. He couldn’t wait for the exam to be over. Hopefully, they could get the exam finished by the end of the day. Then they could have four days to recover if they needed it.

He heard the click of the lock being opened as the chain clattered out of the fence to pool on the ground. The chūnin stood in front of the gate watching his watch before stepping aside.

The second exam had begun.

***

They had been in the forest for about an hour before they were finally attacked by another team. He had started to get worried that his personal goal of completing the exam in one day instead of five was a bit too ambitious. But he didn’t have to worry. A large wind tunnel tore through the trees toward them. He brought one of his arms up to protect his eyes. He felt his feet leave the ground as he was blown off his feet. He felt his back collide with the trunk of a tree. The rough bark dug into his skin as he was relentlessly pushed further into it.

When the wind eventually died down he could finally remove his back from the tree. He fell forward onto his hands and knees panting to try to get his breath back. He struggled to his feet on legs that felt too weak to hold him up. He was disappointed that they had walked right into an ambush after he had told himself he would keep his guard up so he wouldn’t fall prey to traps and ambushes. He looked around wanting to find out who had attacked them. He saw three hidden grass shinobi in front of him. One of them was the hidden grass shinobi with the long tongue that had returned Anko’s kunai.

“You two go have fun somewhere else. I will go in alone from here,” Long Tongue told his teammates.

He felt glared at the three shinobi as two of them ran into the forest to hunt other prey. It burned him that he had to think of himself as prey when he had worked so hard to never be prey again. Team 7 was being severely underestimated, but he supposed that was to their advantage. He glanced to either side to find his teammates. He wanted to figure out a plan to deal with Long Tongue before they were all killed by him. Looking around him though he couldn’t find Sasuke or Sakura. He realized that they must have been blown further into the forest because unlike him they hadn’t been slammed into a tree. He tried to figure out where they were but he wasn’t a sensor type shinobi. He couldn’t tell how far they had been pushed back by the wind jutsu. He was on his own.

Long tongue bit his thumb and did the handsigns for a summoning jutsu. He watched with trepidation as smoke filled the clearing. He knew that when it cleared he would be faced with an intelligent animal capable of moulding chakra like a shinobi. When the smoke cleared a massive brown snake filled over half the clearing. He could no longer see Long Tongue past the snake but he could hear him.

“I’m not after you boy, I’m here for the Uchiha,” Long Tongue imformed him before turning to the summon, “Kill him.”

“Yes, Orochimaru-sama,” the snake said.

Orochimaru, as he supposed Long Tongue was actually called, jumped into the trees to hunt for his friends. The name felt familiar but he couldn’t think of why. He couldn’t place it and had no time to try now that the snake had turned its attention toward him. He really didn’t want to risk being late to help his friends. He decided to run away from the snake instead of fighting it. Before he could chase Orochimaru however the snake lunged for him with all the power its muscular body could summon.

He barely managed to dodge the attack. The tree that he had been thrown into earlier took the full force of the attack. It cracked loudly before the trunk split and the top half of the tree began to fall backward toward the ground. The trees were dense enough around it that it was only able to fall halfway as it was caught by the branches of the surrounding trees.

-Stop,- he yelled putting a hand up to ward against the snake that was clearly preparing to attack again.

To his surprise the snake did stop. It froze in place not relaxing from its tense, ready to attack state. He saw its eyes widen minutely.

-You are a speaker! I an never hurt you now you have revealed yourself to me,- the snake said excitedly, -it is truly an honour to meet a descendant of the true master.-

He had just stumbled on to something that may prove to be useful. He watched the snake bow its head in respect for his apparent ancestor.

-What do you mean? What is a speaker?- he asked his curiosity temporarily overriding his impatience.

-You can speak our noble language. You are descended from the true master. I will follow you as will all snakes,- the snake not lifting its head.

He was still more than a little confused but he felt like he could use this, -Great. Let’s stop that other guy from hurting my teammates. I can’t pass the exam if he kills them.-

-Climb on my head,- the snake said lowering its body to the ground, -I cannot attack the holder of the summon contract but I can take you to him and return home. I will refuse the call if he attempts to summon me again and tell the other summons that a speaker has commanded it.-

-Good enough,- he told it.

It would have to be enough. It was more than he had expected when the snake was summoned. At the very least it took away one of the enemy’s advantages. He climbed onto the head of the snake. It moved much faster than he would have been able to on his own. Less than five minutes had passed since Orochimaru had left the snake to attack him. Hopefully, his friends were still fighting and he could help them. The worst thing he could think of was that they were already seriously injured or dead. He really didn’t want to fail the exam. Not to mention he would miss Sasuke if he were to die. He might even miss Sakura a little.

‘Kurama, lend me your chakra for a bit, please?’ he asked the fox.

It was best to enter the fight with all the advantages he could think of. He had just remembered where he knew the name Orochimaru from, he was one of the legendary sanin. He was also one of the Hidden Leaf’s most famous missing nin. He was way beyond the level of a genin, possible above the level of most jounins as well. He felt Kurama’s chakra flood his entire chakra network.

‘Are their side effects to using this much of your chakra?’ he asked the fox genuinely worried.

He had never used more than a small amount of Kurama’s chakra at a time. Even then the chakra was still being mostly controlled by Kurama. This time it felt different like the chakra was fully his to control and manipulate.

‘ _I am giving you full control of my chakra willingly. My chakra when freely given will not seek to harm you but to make us one_ ,’ Kurama advised him.

‘What happens if we become one?’ there were definite air quotes on becoming one in his tone.

The entire concept made him uncomfortable. He felt hesitation from Kurama at least he thought it came from him. He was really beginning to panic as he wasn’t sure who felt what. Kurama was becoming less defined in his mind. Where before he had been a large presence of chakra he was now barely there.

‘ _I find you worthy, Hadrian_ ,’ Kurama answered, ‘ _I’m tired_.’

‘You didn’t answer my question! Kurama?’ he yelled in his head, panicking more.

He felt new waves of red chakra filling his network until he thought his network would break under the strain. As he expected he felt something inside him give out. He felt his stomach twist and fell to his knees hugging himself to apply pressure where it hurt most. It didn’t help because everywhere hurt like he was being eaten alive by chakra, broken down before being rebuilt. He screamed. He thought he would go mad from the worst pain he had ever felt in his entire life set every nerve in his body burning with a fire that he couldn’t put out. After what felt like an eternity but was only a few seconds he felt the pain fade away. He felt empty in a way he never had before. He looked inside and saw that the cage that once held Kurama was empty.

-Stop,- he told the snake.

He couldn’t fight like this. He felt overwhelmed with loss. He thought Kurama had cared for him like he had cared for Kurama, but all Kurama had wanted was a way out. A way to abandon him. It hurt more than everything the villagers had ever done to him combined. More than every rejection he had ever faced. He was for the first time truly and completely alone and he hated it. Tears were falling down his face and he felt like he was leaking fluids everywhere. It was an ugly thing he knew but he just couldn’t care. It hurt. It hurt too much.

He screamed again but this time from a different type of pain. He didn’t know what else to do. He wanted to shut down, go numb, forget the world existed while he wallowed in his own self pity.

-Master? Did you not want to help your teammates anymore?- the snake was clearly confused.

He blinked. He had forgotten about them.

He felt the numbness recede a little. His hands hurt. He looked and saw that his nails, which looked more like claws, were currently digging into the palms of his hands. He straightened his stiff fingers with effort as they wanted to stay clenched. As soon as his claws were free the wounds on his hands instantly healed. He felt movement above him and behind him and suddenly realized his senses were much better than they had been previously. He reached up and felt a pointed furry ear. With growing dread he glanced behind him and sure enough nine black tails greeted him. He took a deep breath and brought a finger to his mouth. His canine tooth cut into his thumb without any added pressure. He felt stupid but he could feel the massive amounts of chakra he had access to and suddenly he knew he could beat almost any enemy he was faced with.

He was empty but he didn’t have to be alone. He still had his teammates who also needed him to help them.

-Yes, sorry, bring me to them,- he told the snake shaking his head to clear it.

He could already hear the sounds of fighting from ahead of them. With his delays the fighting had now been going on for over five minutes. He had no idea how injured his teammates were but prepared himself for the worst. He took long slow breaths to calm himself.

As they entered the clearing he could see that Orochimaru had dropped the act of being a hidden grass shinobi. His torso had lengthened and was twisting toward Sasuke teeth first. He was sure he was going to bite him, and his instincts said it would be a very bad thing if that happened. This was what he had feared before the exam started. This was what he had to stop. He launched himself from the snake which disappeared back to the summon realm or wherever it was from in a puff of smoke. With the strength this body gave him he was at Orochimaru in a fraction of a second. It almost seemed like Orochimaru was moving in slow motion.

He knocked the sannin away from Sasuke. He followed him through the trees until they were a far enough distance that Sasuke and Sakura would not become collateral damage. He heard an inhuman growl come from his own throat.

“He is my friend, not your minion,” he glared at the sannin.

“I will seperate him from you and dye him my colour instead,” Orochimaru claimed cockily.

“No, because I’m going to kill you now,” he advised Orochimaru, “but before I do, where is your scroll?”

“I swallowed it,” Orochimaru said with a chuckle not taking him seriously, “I don’t have time to play with you.”

“Is that so?” he asked shoving his hand claws first into Orochimaru’s stomach, “because you don’t have a choice.”

It felt squishy, warm, and wet. It was repulsive and he would never stick his hand into someone’s stomach again. He had to fight his gag reflex to keep from being sick but he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a black earth scroll. He whiped it on his pants before slipping it into his weapons pouch alongside the heaven scroll already there. He smiled showing off his pointy teeth. He looked at Orochimaru to see his shock. He was looking at him in complete disbelief. He knew he hadn’t actually looked at him when he had spoken earlier. He had been too far beneath his notice.

He should have taken him more seriously.

“Thank you for this,” he told Orochimaru before flinging himself back several feet.

He held out his arms in front of him and gathered his chakra into a ball. He packed the chakra down until the ball became so dense it turned black. Then he willed the ball straight at Orochimaru faster than he could dodge with a giant hole in his stomach. The bomb of chakra landed just in front of him and exploded. The ball of chakra expanded so high that it could be seen above the trees and it was just as wide. With a jolt of unease he realized that jounin would be sent to investigate. Thank goodness he wasn’t the only jinchūriki taking part in these exams.

He turned away from the destroyed area of the forest. He moved so quickly he could almost believe he was flying back to his teammates. As soon as he entered the clearing he could see that they were confused and his appearance just made that confusion worse. Unfortunately they didn’t have time for him to sit and answer their questions. Especially since he wasn’t sure he knew the answers himself.

“We’ll talk later let’s go,” he said grabbing them both by the waist which was hard because he was smaller than both of them. He ran as fast as his new form would allow until he was sure they were far enough away to alleviate any suspicion those sent to investigate might have.

He dropped his shocked teammates on the ground. He flopped down next to them too exhausted to care about looking dignified. He had to be careful not to land on his tails but they seemed to somewhat follow his will and stayed out of his way. He would need to figure out how to hide the tails and ears before they got to the tower. Now that they had both scrolls they would need to hurry to the tower without any more delays. He really didn’t want to spend time in the forest of death overnight if he didn’t have to.

“You have tails,” Sasuke observed cutting straight to the point.

“I do,” he confirmed.

“Why do you have nine tails?” Sakura screeched far less calm than Sasuke.

“I think my tailed beast committed suicide by fusion,” he said seriously.

Now that he thought of it that was exactly what had happened. The tailed beasts couldn’t be killed because their bodies were pure chakra. But if all of the chakra that made up their bodies was to be fused with their jinchūriki’s chakra then they would have no body so their soul or consciousness would be able to pass on. It felt like that was right because he felt like his chakra was different than before, like it was new but still familiar; it was still his chakra.

“You remember in the land of Waves when you asked where my red chakra came from?” he directed the question to Sasuke.

“Yes, but there is no information on what a jinchūriki is anywhere in the village,” he could hear the frustration in Sasuke’s voice.

“I know what that is,” Sakura said happy to help Sasuke, “ A jinchūriki is someone who has had one of the nine bijuu sealed inside of them. Most villages keep jinchūriki as a weapon to deter other villages from attacking them. All of the five great shinobi villages have at least one. The Hidden Leaf has the Kyuubi.”

Sakura looked at his tails then at his head. She seemed to drop out of lecture mode fast. Her face reddened with embarrassment.

“Oh,” she said only just realizing she was talking about him.

“Wait, you just said the Kyuubi committed suicide. How?” Sasuke asked.

“He gave me all of his chakra, now his cage is empty. He left me alone,” he felt his voice crack and cleared his throat to hide it.

“So that was why you were screaming? Orochimaru said he left his summon to kill you while we were fighting him,” Sasuke said.

“It really hurt,” he said not wanting to remeber the physical pain or warse the emotional pain that followed.

He turned to Sakura, “You’re the smartest person I know. Do you have any ideas about how I can get rid of my tails and ears?”

She smiled reaching out to pet one of his tails. He felt a shiver down his spine. He could feel her hand touching him. It made the entire situation feel more real than it had before. It was disturbing. He wanted her to stop.

“You should keep them. They are super cute,” she said smiling at him like she never had before.

It was different from how she smiled at Sasuke. It was more like the way a person smiles at a small child as they pass by them in the street. He pulled his tail away from her hand but she just reached for another one. He had to many to keep them all away from her.

“No,” he said disallowing any argument.

“Fine,” she pouted but didn’t stop petting his tail.

“You said his cage was still there but it’s empty?” she asked thoughtfully.

He was glad she was finally taking his situation seriously. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to look like some human animal hybrid, he didn’t, but more importantly he couldn’t let the village find out what had happened. His life had been bad before but because he was now actually the nine-tailed fox like the villagers had always claimed, he felt chills just thinking about it. He promised that no one would know the truth aside from his teammates because they already knew so it was too late to keep it from them.

He tried to complete Sakura’s line of thought.

“So can you just put the chakra back in the cage?” Sasuke asked.

He decided it couldn’t hurt him to try to put the chakra back. He focused on the cage in his mind. At the centre of the cage saw a small pool of dark purple chakra. He redirected some of his chakra away from his chakra network and into the cage. When the cage was filled about halfway with purple chakra he heard Sakura sigh with disappointment. He knew his tails and ears were gone. A triumphant smile formed on his face. It felt like he now had the same amount of chakra that he normally had before Kurama ad added his.

“Sasuke,” he turned his smile toward him, “You are amazing.”

His smile widened when he saw Sasuke blush up to the tips of his ears. He never thought he would see the day when Sasuke actually showed an emotion. Of all the emotions he had considered flattered embarrassment was not the one he would have guessed. But then he had never considered that he would ever feel the need to compliment the one he had once privately called Teme.

Now that he had bothered to notice Sasuke he saw that there was blood flowing from a wound on his leg. He reached over and pushed up the leg of Sasuke’s shorts. There was a kunai wound about halfway up his thigh. It looked deep.

“Sakura, do you have any bandages?” he asked her.

Because Kurama had always taken care of healing him he hadn’t needed to pack bandages. He usually used the space he saved to carry more weapons in his pouch.

“Yes, hold on a moment,” she searched through her weapons pouch and pulled out a cylinder of white cloth bandages.

He held up the short leg while Sakura wound the bandages around the wound tightly to keep pressure so the bleeding would stop. Once the bandage was secured in place it looked like the bleeding had at least slowed down. He pulled Sasuke’s short leg back down. He figured they would likely have chūnin at the tower that could heal him using medical ninjutsu. They should get to the tower as quickly as possible to avoid any complications with the wound.

“We should go to the tower now that we have both scrolls,” he said standing up, “before we go I need you to swear you won’t tell anyone about me. Please?”

He felt the gold power in him stirring inside of him with an intention of its own. The others nodded to him. They swore oaths that they would never tell his secrets willingly. He felt the gold power surge inside him then something snap into place. He suddenly felt sure that Sakura and Sasuke could never betray his trust without very dire consequences. They were now literally incapable of it.

They set off at a fast pace for the tower in the centre of the 44th training grounds. It looked like he would be able to complete his goal of finishing the exam in one day.


	14. Chapter 12

They got to the tower a couple of hours later. On the way they had been attacked by a team of sound shinobi but they had been able to kill them. Sasuke experienced his first kill by killing the genin in the fur cape. He had killed the other two starting with the genin who shot chakra out of his arms. Sakura had distracted the female genin by cutting her hair while she declared dramatically that she would work hard to get stronger. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe her it was simply that he wasn’t sure she had enough chakra to be able to get much stronger than she was. But the distraction had worked and now there was one less team that they had to compete against once he had saved Sakura from the other kunoichi.

They had started the exam at noon, so it had taken them about five hours to complete the second exam. The tower was a large cylindrical structure that had been painted red. Around the base were evenly spaced red double doors mirroring the number of gates at the entrance to the training grounds. They picked the first set of doors they saw then went inside. He was curious about what the scrolls said. He also wanted to know what the consequences would have been had they opened them before getting to the tower. He hadn’t tried to open them of course but he had needed to talk Sakura out of opening the spare scroll they got off the sound genin.

Inside the doors was an empty room aside from a large scroll hanging open on the far wall. Written on the scroll were the words: If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths will turn into safe paths. This is the secret of (missing word). It shall lead you on your way. 

It referred to the heaven and earth scrolls he was sure. It was finally time to see what was inside them. He smiled as he removed them from his weapons pouch.

“Here, Sakura, Sasuke, you should both open them,” he said handing Sakura the white scroll and Sasuke the black scroll.

They each opened the scrolls simultaneously. 

“It just says person,” Sasuke said confused.

They had to throw the scrolls onto the ground almost immediately after Sasuke had spoken as smoke began pouring out of them. With a popping sound the smoke began to clear. Once the smoke had thinned, Iruka-sensei stood in front of them with his arms crossed. He smiled at the only teacher who had actually tried to teach him anything at the academy, not that he had made it easy for him.

“Long time no see,” Iruka said smiling.

“What’s going on?” Sakura asked probably concerned they would need to fight him.

If that happened they would win. He had seen Iruka fight Mizuki. Even if he hadn’t been fighting at his best in the woods. He was still nothing they would need to worry about. If they worked together they could beat him easily.

“Looks like you three got through with little trouble,” Iruka said proudly.

Iruka was absolutely wrong about having little trouble. They went through a rough time, they just happened to deal with the obstacles quickly. He had lost his companion while at the same time almost getting stuck with nine tails and fox ears. Sasuke was almost bitten by an evil missing nin which he had no doubt would have been horrible for Sasuke. Sakura seemed to come out fine aside from a new haircut that actually looked better on her. He was jealous of her weakness allowing her to not register as a threat to enemies but only for a moment. Even if it gave him trouble he preferred to be strong. One day he planned to be the strongest shinobi the world had ever seen.

He just smiled at Iruka without correcting him though. No need to have him get suspicious and tell the Hokage about them. The last thing he needed was attention directed his way from the village council, even the Hokage had a hard time overruling them on some occasions.

“Why did you appear from a summoning technique, Iruka-sensei?” he asked.

“We chūnins are welcoming the examinees at the end of the second exam. I was given the duty to pass the three of you a message by chance,” iruka told them proudly.

“A message?” Sasuke asked likely to hurry him along.

He looked down and saw that some red was beginning to bleed through the white material of Sasuke’s shorts. It was concerning that it was still bleeding so much through the bandage they had put on. It must have been a deeper wound than they thought or it had nicked something critical. They definitely needed to get him to someone who knew medical ninjutsu quickly if they didn’t want him to lose too much blood.

“Everyone, congratulations on passing the second exam,” he said with a fond expression, “My second mission is to explain to you what the message on the scroll means. It is the principle written by the Hokage for all chūnin to keep in mind. Heaven refers to the mind and earth to the body. If your mind is weak seek knowledge and prepare ahead before your missions. If your body is weak you should train it everyday. Having both a strong mind and body even a dangerous mission will become safe and easy.”

“Then what is the missing word?” Sakura asked.

“Chūnin,” Iruka said, “Once you have balanced mind and body you are ready to be a chūnin.”

“I see,” he said thinking it over.

Chūnin were squad leaders. Their teams had to be able to trust them knowing that they could be relied on in the event that trouble occurred on the mission. If a chūnin was stupid, as their subordinate you would not trust their judgement. If they were physically weak you could not trust them to be able to help you if a fight was more difficult than anticipated. It made perfect sense and he knew that he had both attributes in balance. He knew that he could make a great chūnin as long as no one interfered to get him held back. 

“That’s all I was ordered to tell you,” Iruka finished.

“Iruka-sensei, during the exam Sasuke was injured. Are we going back to the village?” Sakura asked.

Iruka’s eyes narrowed on the red staining Sasuke’s shorts. Before he turned his attention back to Sakura.

“There is a room further inside the tower with staff on loan from the village hospital. They can look at Sasuke’s wound and heal it. There are also rooms prepared for the teams that pass before the end of the 120 hours. There is already a team from the hidden sand village here,” he said lifting the scroll to reveal a door behind it.

“How do we find the medical room?” he asked standing close so Sasuke could lean on him if he needed to.

Sasuke wrapped his arm around his shoulders before leaning half his weight on him. His injured leg was between them so he didn’t have to put any weight on it at all. That should help with the bleeding until they found the room the medical shinobi were in.

“There are maps posted throughout the tower,” Iruka told them before unhelpfully disappearing in a puff of smoke.

***

They had gotten Sasuke healed first before following the maps to the section marked for team accommodations set aside for the teams that arrived at the tower early. Unless another team had gotten here while they were getting Sasuke healed then it was only team 7 and he assumed Gaara’s team. He had left their room after telling the others he wanted to explore for a bit. Sasuke had tried to go with him but Sakura had made a fuss bout it being too soon. She told him to rest because he had to be tired from losing so much blood. He agreed with her which was rare enough that it convinced Sasuke to rest which he was grateful for.

He decided to start from the top of the building and work his way down. Hopefully he would be able to casually run into Gaara at some point assuming he wasn’t hiding in the rooms his team had chosen. He made his way up several flights of stairs and opened the small door to the roof. He looked out at the forest. It seemed so large and wild even from such a high vantage point. It was really beautiful when you weren’t inside it.

He sensed an attack coming from behind him. Without consciously thinking about it he used the substitution jutsu just as sand enveloped the place he had just been standing. He was lucky to meet Gaara so soon but would have preferred a more friendly greeting.

He made eye contact with the other boy and smiled at him.

The sand stopped, “It’s you, what do you want?”

“Just to talk to you,” he said walking closer.

He made sure he moved slowly so he would appear as non threatening as possible. 

“You and I have more in common than you realize,” he told Gaara, “You present a unique opportunity for me, one I may never get again.”

“I am nothing like you,” Gaara stated dismissively.

“Really? How can you say that when you don’t know me. I was a jinchūriki just like you, until a couple of hours ago. That’s one thing in common. I imagine your village, like mine, isn’t overly fond of jinchūriki. That’s two things. I’m sure I could think of more but I see I’ve already caught your interest,” he said with another smile. 

He was almost right next to Gaara when the sand suddenly surged around him. It wrapped around them both quickly until they were encased inside of a hollow sphere of hard packed sand. Given his previous statement he had to assume Gaara’s interest wasn’t the only interest he had captured.

“Should I assume I am now speaking with Shukaku?” he asked raising his eyebrow.

Gaara’s normally pale teal eyes had turned black with little yellow diamonds inside them. Shukaku narrowed Gaara’s eyes at him clearly upset that he was managing to remain so calm.

“I sensed my brother in you the first time we met. Now I only sense his chakra. How?” Shukaku asked.

“The tailed beasts can be sealed because their bodies are made of chakra which allows them to be immortal. But the consciousness or soul is still separate from their bodies. Kurama willingly pushed all of his chakra into my chakra network, including the chakra that formed his body, so that my network would completely fuse with it. He is not here and my chakra is now a combination of my own chakra and his chakra,” to prove what he had said was true he pulled some of the stored chakra from the cage so his ears and tails would show.

He saw Shukaku’s eyes widen in surprise as he muttered something too low for him to hear even with his fox ears. He did think he might have heard the word easy but couldn’t be entirely sure.

“Kurama has moved on to a different place. I hope he is happy there, but I do know wherever he is, he is free,” he said sadly. 

Kurama was his friend almost family. He would miss having someone to talk to when he needed it. He felt his chest constrict and took a deep breath. Then he took another trying to keep the sadness from overwhelming him. He was distracted a few moments later by Gaara’s pained whimper. He looked at Gaara who was curling in on himself inside the sand sphere. It would seem he had accidentally given Shukaku the method to commit suicide by fusion. He had thought that both sides needed to be willing but apparently he had been wrong. The whimpers were getting closer together and slowly morphed into a whine then into a chilling scream.

He pushed the extra chakra back into the cage before placing his palms on his oversensitive ears trying to block out the sound of screaming. Is that what he had sounded like? He had probably scared away any other teams that had been in the area. He had been wondering why no one had used the opportunity to try to attack them while they were weak apart from the hidden sound genin.

After about a minute Gaara had a deep forest green glow around him. The was also a very fluffy raccoon tail protruding from his lower back along with little racoon ears, claws, and teeth. His eyes were black with little turquoise diamonds. To be honest it was interesting to see the situation from Sakura’s point of view. He understood how if you weren’t the one who was part animal it could be seen as a little bit cute.

Suddenly, Gaara’s glare moved to focus intensely on him. He felt that if he weren’t also in a similar situation he would have just been killed. He could tell that Gaara was agitated by the fact that his tail was twice the size it had first been. All the hair on his tail was straight up making it seem even bushier. It was like Tora’s tail when the horrible cat was being smothered by its owner. He smiled but quickly stopped when he heard the growl.

“Fix it,” Gaara told him very angry.

“Do you know where to find the space Shukaku was sealed? Just put the extra chakra in there and the tail goes away, promise,” he said quickly.

Without breaking eye contact while looking very suspicious about his willingness to help him Gaara seemed to turn some of his focus inward. He watched as Gaara’s tail disappeared. He released the air he had been holding in relief. He decided the best thing he could do was try to move Gaara’s focus away from what he had just done.

“As I mentioned earlier, you present a unique opportunity for me to speak with another jinchūriki,” he said smiling, “Could you tell me about yourself? Who are your teammates? They seem very scared of you.”

Gaara stared at him for a moment like he was a new type of animal he hadn’t seen before and wasn’t quite sure what to do with. He decided that it couldn’t hurt to try to make Gaara happy. He wasn’t sure he had ever tried so hard for someone or talked so much on his own. 

“You know Kurama told me that Shukaku liked to torture his jinchūriki by keeping them awake. Now that he is gone you can probably sleep. If you want to try I’ll stay with you in case anything happens,” he offered.

Gaara’s eyes widened like he had just been told all his dreams had come true. He immediately leaned back against the wall of the sphere and closed his eyes. His breathing evened out within seconds of his eyes closing. He hadn’t meant that he should fall asleep right away. He was now trapped in an orb of sand with nothing to do but watch the other boy sleep. Given how little he had slept in his life he could be there for the next three days for all he knew. Figuring there wasn’t much else to do he copied Gaara and tried to fall asleep.

He was woken a few hours later by the orb shaking a little. He couldn’t hear anything from outside as their space was insulated by the sand. Glancing over he saw that Gaara was dead to the world. Glancing at his watch he saw that it was about 10am so he had been gone all night. He wondered if his teammates were worried about him or not. He figured they might try looking for him though they wouldn’t have any way to tell that he was inside the orb.

He felt his stomach rumble in discomfort. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before. He felt like waking Gaara up would be a bad idea so he just pulled out a ball of rice. He could already see some of the shadows beneath Gaara’s eyes lightening beneath the Kohl. The shaking of the orb died off a few minutes later. He decided to meditate instead of sleep. 

After meditating for a few more hours he checked the time again and realized that Gaara had been sleeping for almost two days. They still had about two and a half days before the second exam would end but he was really bored. It was time to try waking up Gaara so they could at least get something to drink and maybe eat.

He shook Gaara’s shoulder softly. Gaara grunted but didn’t wake up. He decided to shake him a little harder hoping that would make a difference. Gaara made a slow swatting motion with his hand but didn’t open his eyes.

“Gaara,” he said firmly shaking him a little bit harder again.

Gaara woke with a start and pushed him so hard he fell into the wall on the other side of the orb.

“No need to be violent, you’ve slept for two days,” he grumbled, “you’re welcome.”

Gaara blinked at him, “Temari and Kankuro are my older siblings and teammates. They are the only ones who will work with me and only because our father, the Kazekage, told them they had to.”

Gaara decided to answer his questions from two days ago instead of releasing his sand sphere. He was tempted to tell him that it could wait but he might not get the opportunity to speak to him again. He also now knew the name of the blond girl on Gaara’s team. He also liked the subtle name dropping. He had wanted to be friends with Gaara due to his status as a jinchūriki but it looked like he had other connections as well. He may have made a valuable ally.

“If you have two older siblings, I’m curious about why you were chosen to be the jinchūriki,” he said.

“My mother was a sensor type shinobi. She said that my chakra network was dormant and thought I was in danger of dying so she and my father decided to make me a jinchūriki to restart my chakra but she died giving birth. I was blamed because I was a jinchūriki,” Gaara seemed to feel some pain at the story and he wondered just how far his family had gone to convince him he was at fault.

“But it was their choice to make you a jinchūriki not yours,” he said angry, “This is why I hate the villagers, it isn’t my fault or even Kurama’s fault that he was sealed inside me but it is me they blame for every misfortune that befalls them regardless of whether I was anywhere near them at the time.”

“I feel the same,” Gaara told him, “That is why I kill them. To prove that I exist and that I have power over them.”

He looked at Gaara, “I smiled at them and decided to be Hokage one day so I could make them see the error of their ways and prevent future jinchūrikis from going through what I did in a safe and legal way.”

Gaara seemed to consider his method but it was clear he felt his method of indiscriminate killing was better. He also had killed people and he hadn’t felt bad about it but they had all been people who could fight back. He wasn’t sure how he would feel about taking an innocent life. No he was sure that he couldn’t take the life of someone who had not hurt him first. But then most of the village had hurt him more times than he could count. He felt like he needed some time and distance to think about his future course of action.

“So I haven’t eaten in two days. Do you want to come with me to get lunch?” he asked. 

“I’ll go,” he said attempting a smile as the orb crumbled around them.

Gaara was not very good at smiling. They would definitely work on it however he was confident that with time he would be able to teach Gaara what a smile should look like.

***

Two and a half days later he stood with his teammates. Five other teams had managed to get to the tower with their scrolls in addition to team 7 making the total number of people entering the third exam eighteen. He and Gaara had apparently caused a big scene with the sand sphere. The shaking had been Sasuke and his sister Temari trying to break in to it to save him from the evil Gaara. When they had shown up in the dining hall everyone seemed to be shocked that he was alive, their shock got even deeper when he declared that Gaara and him were friends. Though as his first friend, Sasuke was told about their conversation and that Gaara was now like him. He had decided to call them evolved jinchūrikis. 

He had a suspicion that Sasuke might not like Gaara very much. He figured Temari had poisoned him with tales of evil that were mostly true but probably exaggerated for emphasis. She kept blushing when she looked at Sasuke but at least she wasn’t a fangirl like Sakura and Ino were.

“First off, congratulations on passing the Second Exam,” Anko said to the gathered genin teams.

He shifted his attention back to the front of the room. The Hokage along with all of their jounin instructors stood with Anko on a stage built into the wall. 

“We will now have an explanation of the third exam from the Hokage, everyone listen well,” Anko reminded them.

“Before the explanation, there’s one thing I want to make clear to all of you. The true purpose of this exam is a simulation of war between the allied nations. The third exam is held publicly. It is attended by feudal lords along with famous and wealthy individuals from other countries. All of them are potential clients invited here as guests to view each village’s strongest prospects in battle. They often use this when deciding which village to approach with their missions. The country’s power is the village’s power, the village’s power is the shinobi’s power,” the Hokage stated.

He felt that it made sense. Shinobi were not good people. Manipulation and deceit were only a couple of the traits the villages nurtured but because it was in service to the feudal lords and the wealthy, the civilians didn’t care how bad they were inside as long as their missions were completed. The civilians within the village also benefited from increased traffic to their shops. The wealthier the missions the more local shinobi would purchase from them as well and the lower the taxes they would need to pay would be.

A shinobi who seemed to have a bit of a cold appeared in front of the Hokage, “ I, Hayate Gekkou the third examiner, will explain.”

“Please do,” the Hokage gave his permission for Hayate to continue.

“Before the third exam there is one last thing to do, due to the number of passing students it has been decided that we will need to have a preliminary exam. The winners of the preliminary exam will go on to represent their villages before the invited guests. You will be having one on one matches from here on, so please withdraw if you wish,” Hayate explained between coughing fits.

The silver haired genin who had approached the rookies before the first exam stepped forward, “I’ll quit.”

“You are the Hidden Leaf’s Kanuto Yakushi, correct?” the examiner asked, Kabuto nodded, “You may leave, then.”

Kabuto walked from the room after a quiet conversation with his teammates. He felt that to make it so far only to quit was a waste of time and effort. Even Hinata and Shikamaru were continuing on in the exam. He hadn’t personally spoken to Kabuto so he couldn’t guess if there was a legitimate reason for his withdrawal but he did not like the weakness that it showed. He hoped not to see Kabuto again.

“May I assume there are no more people who wish to retire?” Hayate glanced around after a few moments of silence.

The third examiner turned toward the Hokage. Along with the other jounin instructors, they had a conference in voices too low for him to be able to hear what they were saying. He assumed it had something to do with Kabuto causing an odd number of genin to fight in the one on one matches.

“The computer will randomly pair names for the matches. Due to the odd number of participants remaining the one whose name is not matched by the end of the preliminary exam will continue on to the third exam. Luck is also a good trait for a shinobi to have,” Hayate explained, “You will all be asked to go through that door into a sitting room. When your names appear on the screen you will come back here for your match the winners will go back into the room to wait while the others will receive medical attention before being allowed to observe the remaining matches.”

“Why aren’t we allowed to watch all the matches?” Kiba asked.

“One of you will be lucky enough to not need to fight in a preliminary match. If you are all able to watch every match that person will know all of your techniques but you will not know their’s. It is with this in mind that we have decided that all those going on to the third exam will not be able to view the other matches,” the examiner explained.

He nodded his acceptance along with the others. Though everyone wanted to have such an advantage no one wanted anyone else to have that kind of advantage over them. So there was nothing else for them to do except agree with the examiner’s decision. They filed out through the door to the left of the viewing platform to find themselves in a comfortable looking sitting room. In front of the couches was a large black screen. Random letters flit across the screen before settling onto two names.

First Match: Shikamaru Nara vs. Sakura Haruno

He smiled at Sakura, “Do your best.”

He figured she could use the encouragement. He elbowed Sasuke subtly to get him to say something too.

“Good luck,” Sasuke told her.

Her entire face brightened, “I’ll win, Sasuke-kun.”

He really doubted she would but he didn’t say anything as she and Shikamaru left the room. 

About ten minutes later Shikamaru walked back in. He had predictably won his match against Sakura.

The other matches were as follows:

Second Match: Gaara vs. Yoroi Akado /Winner: Gaara

Thrid Match: Sasuke Uchiha vs. Choji Akimichi /Winner: Sasuke

Fourth Match: Shino Aburame vs. Misumi Tsurugi /Winner: Shino

Fifth Match: TenTen vs. Hinata Hyuuga /Winner: TenTen

Sixth Match: Neji Hyuuga vs. Ino /Winner: Neji

Seventh Match: Temari vs. Kiba Inuzuka /Winner: Temari

Eigth Match: Rock Lee vs. Kankuro /Winner: Lee

He had smiled when the last pair of names settled on the screen. He could feel the glares of everyone in the room on his back. He had gotten the free pass. Given how horrible his luck always seemed to be, he felt it was about time he got to take advantage of some good luck for a change. He felt like it couldn’t last though.

They were called back into the main room by Hayate once the match had ended. They went in together standing in line in front of the viewing platform.

“That concludes the Third Exam’s preliminary matches,” Hayate began, “congratulations on making it to the main matches.”

“I will now explain the details of the third exam,” the Hokage took over, “The main matches will begin in one month. The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations for the arrival of our invited guests.”

Anko entered the room carrying a small cardboard box in her hands.

“All of you will now take a tag out of the box except for Hadrian. Hadrian, because you did not fight in the preliminary matches you will need to fight in one extra match at the start of the third exam,” the Hokage told him.

He sighed. He knew his luck wouldn’t last. That meant he would need to fight twice in the first two matches of the exam. Which meant he would be more fatigued than the other participants right from the start. It was also to his advantage however because he would be in more matches and therefore have more chances to prove to the Hokage and other judges that he was ready to be a chūnin.

“I will come to you,” Anko said walking up to Lee first, “Take just one.”

She walked down the line of participants skipping over him because his place was predetermined. He glanced at Sasuke’s card since he was standing next to him and saw that it had a number printed on it. 

“Now, tell me what number you got, starting from the left,” Ibiki said.

“Four,” Shino.

“Two,” Shikamaru.

“You are nine,” Ibiki advised him.

“Five,” Sasuke.

“Seven,” Neji.

“Six,” TenTen.

“Eight,” Lee.

“One,” Temari.

“Three,” Gaara.

“We will now tell you the match ups for the tournament,” the Hokage advised.

Ibiki turned the paper he had been writing on around so they could all see it. Match one would be Harry and Lee then the winner would be facing Neji in round two, Tenten would face Sasuke next followed by Shino against Gaara in round four with the final opening match being Temari against Shikamaru.

“I have a question, if it’s a tournament, that means there’s only one winner, right? Does that mean that only one person can become a chūnin?” Shikamaru asked.

He intended to win the tournament either way but this would let him know if he had to win it or not.

“The main matches will have multiple judges to decide based on how you perform in the matches who should be promoted to chūnin. The benefit to being in more matches is to show more of your skill to the judges. You can win the tournament but still not become a chūnin, similarly you can lose in the first round and become a chūnin. All of you now have the chance to become a chūnin,” the Hokage answered, “Do you understand now, Shikamaru-kun?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Shikamaru answered, the how troublesome was implied.

“That is all. We are adjourned until next month,” The Hokage told them.


	15. Epilogue

He looked up at the Hokage Tower as he approached with narrowed eyes. He had received a summons from the Hokage that morning to appear in his office for a meeting. He had been given no indication what the meeting was about but if the Hokage thought for a moment he would give up his chance to be a chūnin he would soon learn very differently. He had originally been planning to find Sasuke so they could train for the third chūnin exam together. His entire plan for the day was ruined but he couldn’t just ignore the Hokage when he decides to set up a meeting. It didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

When he walked into the Hokage’s office, without knocking because he never knocked when he visited the old man, the first thing he saw was Ebisu standing in the corner looking more unhappy than he was. He had a bad feeling. His bad feelings usually ended up being right.

“Hadrian, how have you been?” the Hokage asked.

He had always been friendly to him but had never stepped in when the villagers attacked him so his feelings toward the Hokage were relatively neutral. That didn’t mean that the Hokage had to know that. As far as the old man knew they were on great terms.

“I’ve been great,” he said enthusiastically while glancing at Ebisu who winced.

“That’s good,” the Hokage smiled, “I received word from Kakashi this morning that he has taken Sasuke to train in a technique only possible with the Sharingan. He has arranged for Ebisu to help you train in the interim.”

He frowned at the news. He and Sasuke hadn’t technically agreed to train together but there was an unspoken understanding. He had assumed that they would because they were on the same team and shared the same teacher. He knew it was likely Kakashi’s idea but he hadn’t expected Sasuke to go along with abandoning him so easily. He felt betrayed by Kakashi who had promised to be a good teacher to him only a week ago. Now he was attempting to set him up to fail by procuring a jounin known to despise him as his teacher. He felt it went a step too far.

It was no wonder that Ebisu seemed upset. They had not gotten along from the moment they met when he was handing in his paperwork to officially register as a genin. Ebisu was just another person in the village who saw him as a monster without ever bothering to get to know him.

“I would like to decline the arrangement.”

“Excellent. I’ll show myself out,” Ebisu hurried away before the Hokage could make them work together anyway.

“Actually, Hokage-sama,” the Hokage raised a brow at not being addressed as old man by him like he usually was, “I wanted to request permission to temporarily leave the village to train on my own. I would be back in one month, maybe less.”

“Where are you planning to go?” the Hokage asked neutrally.

“The ruins of the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides,” he said in his most reasonable tone of voice.

“That could be dangerous,” the old man cautioned.

“Which is why I am only telling you,” he said with confidence.

The Hokage still looked dubious. He held eye contact until the Hokage sighed giving in. The old man’s guilt over his treatment constantly worked in his favour.

“Fine, but you must return by the end of the month or you will be considered a missing nin,” the Hokage said unexpectedly harsh.

He nodded with a smile, “No need to worry then.”

He left the tower with a spring in his step. He had no actual intention of visiting some dusty old ruins. Anything there to be found would have already been looted either by survivors or the Hidden Mist shinobi who destroyed it. It was time to get some space from the village to think about his future and he happened to have a letter that promised him just that. The only downside was that it could also be a trap.

He only had two people he was willing to tentatively call his friend. One was already gone to train with their teacher alone. He felt it would be rude to just disappear when he had only been friends with Gaara for a few days. He went to the hotel where Gaara was staying at first after he left Hokage Tower. He found out Gaara’s room number from the front desk. The villager behind the desk nervously gave him the number like they were worried he was going to use it for something horrible. Once he got the number he went upstairs and knocked on the door. Gaara opened it within moments. Gaara glanced into the hallway looking both ways to confirm he was there alone.

“Hey Gaara, do you want to come have lunch with me?” he asked.

Instead of giving a verbal response Gaara stepped into the hall closing the door behind him. He looked at him to lead the way. He smiled as they walked out of the hotel, then to his apartment with Gaara walking half a step behind him so he wouldn’t lose his way. He didn’t want to go to any of the village’s restaurants because he couldn’t really afford it. Ichiraku Ramen had always treated him well so that would have been his first choice if they had gone out to eat.

He led Gaara into the kitchen offering him a chair.

“Are you fine with cup noodles?” he asked searching through his barren cupboards.

“It’s fine,” Gaara said looking around the room curiously.

He set the kettle on the stove and sat down across from Gaara. Neither of them were the most talkative naturally but he had the most practise at faking it. He decided to start with the reason he had invited him out to eat in the first place.

“So, I’m leaving the village for the next month. I thought because we were friends I would let you know,” he said feeling awkward.

“Are you going to train?” Gaara seemed curious.

He shook his head, “I received a letter from a bank about money my parents left me. I’m aware it could be a prank or trap set up by the village but if it isn’t a chance to leave like this may never come again and I feel like right now I could use the space.”

“I’ll go with you. I don’t care about the Hidden Sand and if its a trap I can kill them all,” Gaara offered.

He smiled at him. It seemed like the kind of motivation Gaara would have. He had confessed to a fondness of indiscriminate killing. Even though Gaara had gotten space from his village, his siblings who hated him the most for ‘killing their mom’ were still with him. He could understand wanting to get away from them too. It also would be less lonely for him to have a friend with him in an unfamiliar place. He honestly had never heard of the bank so he couldn’t even guess at how far away it might be.

“Okay,” he said making his decision, “Do you need to get anything from the hotel?”

He got up to take the water off of the heat. He poured the water so the cup was filled to the little red line they put around the inside.

“No,” Gaara said.

The noodles needed to soak for five minutes so he went into his bedroom with Gaara trailing behind him to stand in the doorway watching him pack. He pulled out the pack he used for long missions like the mission to wave. He put all the money he currently had into the pack first because even though he may have a trust fund the letter said he wouldn’t gain access until he was eleven which was still two weeks away. He packed his two man tent with his sleeping bag, all his weapons, a change of clothes, a travel kettle, several noodle cups, and last the photo of team 7 taken the day they successfully completed their first D rank mission.

Fully packed he brought the bag into the kitchen putting it on the counter next to the letter which he had not moved since he opened it. They ate their cup noodles in silence.

When they were both finished he threw out the empty cups into the public dumpster aware that he wouldn’t be back for a month. He washed the chopsticks before adding them to the side pocket of his pack. The he put the pack on his back. He felt like he was ready to leave. The more he thought about it the more excited he became. Picking up the letter he brought it with him to where Gaara was waiting in the living room.

“Hold this,” he said, “I think it works like a reverse summoning jutsu.”

Gaara grabbed onto the other half of the letter, “Rutabaga.”

He felt like a hook grabbed him just behind his navel. Then the world started spinning as the ground fell away.


End file.
